Australian labour market: Signal, or just noise? - HSBC

Daniel Smith, Economist at HSBC, explains that Australian employment jumped by 61k in March, well ahead of market expectations for a 20k increase (HSBC forecast 25k).

Key Quotes

“The larger than expected increase takes the y-o-y rate of employment growth to 1.2%, the strongest in six months. That may be a sign that the gap between the official employment numbers and other labour market indicators, which have been more positive, is beginning to close. But the official numbers are volatile and have been suffering from issues with the seasonal adjustment process. That could result in some payback in the April numbers.”

“The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.9% in March, still slightly above where it sat through most of 2016. However, with positive signals from other labour market indicators, we do expect employment growth to accelerate and the labour market to gradually tighten from H2 2017.”