The ABS released the August Labour Force figures which came in as expected. The increase in jobs was a seasonally adjusted 17,400 to 11.8m, made up of 11.5k full time and 5.9k part time.
The unemployment rate came in at 6.2%, down 0.1% from the 6.3% recorded for July, helped by a lower participation rate which was 0.1% lower at 65.0%.
The states with the lowest rates of unemployment were NSW (6.0%), W.A. (6.1%) and Victoria (6.1%) with both W.A and Victoria showings falls from the July figure of 6.4%. The state with the highest rate remains South Australia with a rate of 7.9%, unchanged from the previous month. Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 0.6m hours in August 2015 to 1,623.8m hours.
Shane Oliver, AMP Capital’s chief economist, rated the result as “surprisingly strong” given the recent GDP figures he described as “soft”.
ANZ said, “Importantly, the employment-to-population ratio continued to rise, signalling a slowly improving labour market.” However, the banks says it expect employment growth to slow and at the moment the cash rate is likely to be reduced by the RBA.
While the 6.2% rate was as expected, Westpac said the rise of 17400 in total employment was “well above market expectations for a 5000 rise.”