Employment

Employment rose by 39.7k in May, somewhat more than the 30.0k expected by market participants. This followed a downwardly revised 37.4k gain in April (originally 38.5k). The annual rate of employment growth decelerated back to 2.5%.

Seasonally adjusted employment bounced back 38.5k in April following a 5.9k fall in March (revised from -6.6k). The consensus market expectation had been for a 23.7k increase.

Seasonally adjusted employment declined 6.6k in March, against market expectations of a 10.0k gain. The supersized February increase was revised slightly upwards to 117.6k against the initially estimated 116.5k.

Employment surged a seasonally adjusted 116.5k in February, significantly more than the 40.0k pencilled in by the market consensus. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped 0.4ppts to 3.7%. Western Australia saw the strongest percentage gain in employment of all states, both in monthly (1.7%) and annual terms (4.9%).

Employment rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5k in January, following a 62.7k slump in December. The January increase was a large disappointment for market participants, who expected a 25.0k gain. The unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 4.1%, but this is still low by historical standards.

Employment slumped 65.1k in December but the unemployment rate was steady at 3.9% (exp. 3.9%), as the decline in employment was matched by a 65.9k fall in the labour force that pushed the participation rate down to a three-month low of 66.8%, from a record high of 67.3% in November