AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate continued its slow but steady rise in November, reaching 6.3 per cent, the highest level in more than 14 years, as more Australians started looking for work.
The Australian dollar jumped more than half a US cent to US83.7c in morning trading as investors focused on the 43,000 new jobs were created between October and November, around twice what economists had expected, lifting total employment in the economy to 11.64 million.
But almost 95 per cent of these were part-time jobs. Full-time employment increased 1800 to 8,059,400, while the number of unemployed Australians rose by 4700 to 777,700, equivalent to around five times the number of outstanding newspaper and online job advertisements across the country.
The participation rate — which measures the share of the working-age population in or looking for work — rose 0.1 percentage points to 64.7 per cent, contributing to the rise in the headline unemployment rate from 6.2 per cent in October to 6.3 per cent in November.
Economists have cast a sceptical eye over Australia’s official jobless figures since the ABS repudiated its own seasonal adjustment process following a spate of incredible monthly changes in employment.
The ABS introduced a new seasonable adjustment process in October.
The unemployment rate was last as high as 6.3 per cent in September 2002.
“From here — and now that the ABS appears more comfortable with the veracity of the survey — we expect the unemployment rate to level out,” ANZ’s Savita Singh said.
“This report will not go far enough to dissuade those looking for interest rate cuts. While we acknowledge the risks lie in that direction, we think the probability of a rate cut remains below 50 per cent.”
This news story is reprinted from www.theaustralian.com.au
Read more details on brisbane financial services
The Australian dollar jumped more than half a US cent to US83.7c in morning trading as investors focused on the 43,000 new jobs were created between October and November, around twice what economists had expected, lifting total employment in the economy to 11.64 million.
But almost 95 per cent of these were part-time jobs. Full-time employment increased 1800 to 8,059,400, while the number of unemployed Australians rose by 4700 to 777,700, equivalent to around five times the number of outstanding newspaper and online job advertisements across the country.
The participation rate — which measures the share of the working-age population in or looking for work — rose 0.1 percentage points to 64.7 per cent, contributing to the rise in the headline unemployment rate from 6.2 per cent in October to 6.3 per cent in November.
Economists have cast a sceptical eye over Australia’s official jobless figures since the ABS repudiated its own seasonal adjustment process following a spate of incredible monthly changes in employment.
The ABS introduced a new seasonable adjustment process in October.
The unemployment rate was last as high as 6.3 per cent in September 2002.
“From here — and now that the ABS appears more comfortable with the veracity of the survey — we expect the unemployment rate to level out,” ANZ’s Savita Singh said.
“This report will not go far enough to dissuade those looking for interest rate cuts. While we acknowledge the risks lie in that direction, we think the probability of a rate cut remains below 50 per cent.”
This news story is reprinted from www.theaustralian.com.au
Read more details on brisbane financial services
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