Australia’s employers shed jobs last month and the jobless rate rose, underscoring the Reserve Bank’s prediction that the labour market was near a turning point.
The unemployment rate in July was 3.7% with the economy losing a net 14,600 jobs, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Economists had predicted the jobless rate would tick higher to 3.6% from June’s reported 3.5% rate, with a net 15,000 increase in jobs.
The increase in the jobless numbers will give the Reserve Bank more reason to extend their pause on interest rates to a third consecutive month when the board meets next month. In recent days, the odds of a September rate rise have been less than 10%.
Traders took that cue, sending the Australian dollar down by almost a quarter of a US cent to trade at about 63.75 US cents.
Stocks, which tend to benefit from lower interest rates, pared losses for the day to about 0.9%.
The Reserve Bank predicts the unemployment rate will rise to 4.5% by the end of 2024, an increase of a percentage point from June’s level. Some economists consider a shift of that level as signalling a recession.
Still, the economy has added about 1m jobs since the depths of the Covid pandemic and the jobless rate has hovered near half-century lows for almost a year.
Turning point for the jobless rate, as it ticks up to 3.7%? Might not see 3.5% again for a while. (@ABSstat) pic.twitter.com/GnHczUD8hh
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) August 17, 2023
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“The fall in employment [of about 14,600 jobs] follows an average monthly increase of around 42,000 people during the first half of this year,” Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said. “Employment is still around 387,000 people higher than last July.”
“While unemployment increased by 36,000 people in July, to 541,000, it was still around 172,000 lower than before the pandemic.”
The participation rate eased back to 66.7%, while the underemployment rate was steady at 6.4%, seasonally adjusted.
In a sign of underlying demand for labour, monthly hours worked increased 0.2% in July 2023, while employment decreased 0.1%. Some of the increase in hours worked reflected fewer people than usual taking leave during the school holidays, the ABS said.
“The strength in hours worked shows that it continues to be a tight labour market,” Jarvis said. “Hours worked were 5.2% higher than in July 2022, well above the 2.8% annual increase in employment.”
“The strength in hours worked over the past year, relative to employment growth, shows the demand for labour is continuing to be met, to some extent, by people working more hours,” Jarvis said.
More to come.
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