The Australian economy has recorded another solid month of employment gains, although part-time positions accounted for the majority of the gain. The ABS released employment estimates for September and the total number of people employed in Australia in either full-time or part-time work increased by 19,800. This figure exceeded the market’s median expectation of 15,000 new positions.
Bond yields fell just prior to the release of the figures but they quickly gained 2bps in the next thirty minutes or so. By the end of the day, 3 year bond yields had increased from 2.10% to 2.14% and 10 year bond yields had added 4bps to 2.79%. In the currency market the Aussie initially shot up against the USD but then slipped back to finish marginally higher at around 78.55 U.S. cents.
The unemployment rate came in at 5.5%, a fall from August’s unemployment rate of 5.6% and the lowest rate since February 2013. September is the first month in almost a year where employment growth exceeded growth in the available workforce who wish to work. A year ago the participation rate was 64.4%; at the end of September it was at 65.2% and not all that far away from its all-time peak of 65.8% which was reached in February 2009.
The total number of work hours across the whole economy increased by 0.7% when compared to August, as 6,100 more full-time jobs and 13,700 part-time jobs were created. On a 12 month basis aggregate hours worked grew by 3.4% as 315,900 full-time and 55,600 part-time positions were created.