Australia’s unemployment rate rose in February as part-time jobs fell in greater numbers than a rise in full time employment. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released February employment estimates which indicated Australia’s unemployment rate rose from 5.7% to 5.9%. The total number of people employed in Australia in either full-time or part-time work fell by 6,400 during the month, in contrast with the market’s expectation of +20,000. The participation rate remained steady at 64.6% but total hours worked fell by 1.2% over the month and they are 0.5% lower than the comparable number from February 2016.
Bond yields were already headed south after large falls overnight in US bond markets and the employment figures just added to the downward pressure on yields. 3 year bond yields fell 9bps to finish the day at 2.06% while 10 year yields fell 11bps to finish at 2.86% and the Aussie slipped back under 77 US cents.
It was hard to put a positive spin on the numbers although some economists thought the rise in full-time positions was encouraging. ANZ economist Felicity Emmett said the report was disappointing but the “detail was slightly more positive than the headline with full-time jobs rebounding after the previous month’s sharp fall. The weakness in the report is at odds with still solid business conditions and ongoing gains in ANZ job ads, and in our view some improvement is likely over coming months.”