Analysts at TD Securities point out that Australia’s July employment report was a mixed bag as headline jobs at -3.9k briefly disappointed, but part-time -23k offset a decent pop in full-time +19k.
Key Quotes
“The small decline in the part-rate to 65.5% (from 65.7%) cushioned the bottom line, hence a lower 5.3% unemployment rate.”
“The RBA expects 5% so steps towards that level is positive for sentiment. As an aside, monthly changes (employment, hours worked) were buoyant in this report, but as July was so strong last year, annual rates are dire and so any “year-on-year” charts appear to suggest a drastic loss of momentum in employment.”