Focus of the Thursday's session was on Australian job figures. Australia has now created jobs in each of the past 16 months, the longest stretch ever seen before. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), employment grew by 16,000 in seasonally adjusted terms in January, marginally topping forecasts for an increase of 15,000. Part time employment surged by 65,900, masking an ugly 49,800 decline in full time workers. That reversed the trend seen over the year where full time employment soared by 293,200, far outpacing a 110,100 increase in part time employment over the same period.
At 12.4535 million, total employment now stands at the highest level on record, helped by a record stretch of consecutive monthly gains that began way back in October 2016. With labour force participation falling 0.1 percentage points to 65.6%, the modest increase in employment saw Australia’s unemployment rate fall to 5.5%. That was in line with market expectations, and below the upwardly-revised 5.6% level of December. Labour force participation measures the percentage of Australia’s working age population who are either in or actively seeking work.
This week markets will be looking at:
Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (Tuesday 1:30)
Construction Work Done (Wednesday 1:30)
Wage Price Index (Wednesday 1:30)
