Australia: Employment rebounds in November – ANZ

Catherine Birch, senior economist at ANZ, notes that Australia’s employment in November was surprisingly strong, rising 39.9k, following the 24.8k fall in October.

Key Quotes

“Most of the gain was in part-time employment, however (+35.7k). Full-time jobs gained just 4.2k.”

“Consequently, while aggregate hours worked rose by 2.9m in November, this wasn’t enough to fully reverse the 3.5m fall in October.”

“The participation rate was steady at 66.0%, although there was a 0.1ppt improvement in male participation.”

“The unemployment rate shifted down to 5.2%. It has fluctuated between 5.2% and 5.3% for the past eight months. The underemployment rate fell from 8.5% to 8.3%.”