Australia: Employment falls at sharpest rate in three years in October
Seasonally-adjusted employment dropped by 19,000 in October, following a revised 12,500 job addition in August (previously reported: +14,700). October’s result disappointed market expectations of a 15,000 jobs addition and was driven by a contraction of both full-time and part-time employment.
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment inched up to 5.3% in October, reversing September’s dip, which had marked the first drop since February. Moreover, the seasonally-adjusted under-employment rate increased to 8.5% in October, from 8.3% in September, while the seasonally-adjusted participation rate inched down 0.1 percentage points to 66.0% in October.