Australia: Labor market adds high number of new jobs in October
Seasonally-adjusted employment increased by 32,800 in October compared to the previous month, following the revised 7,800 jobs added in September (previously reported: +5,600 jobs) and overshooting analysts’ expectations for a gain of 20,000. October’s reading was again driven by an increase of full-time workers more than offsetting a decline in part-time workers.
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment remained stable at September’s over six-year low of 5.0% in October. Moreover, October saw an increase in the number of people actively looking for a job, as the seasonally-adjusted participation rate rose from 65.5% in September to 65.6%. Meanwhile, the seasonally-adjusted underutilization rate and the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate remained unchanged from the previous month in October. Recently released data shows that the improvement in labor market dynamics is slowly impacting on wage gains, as pay growth picked up pace in Q3 from the previous quarter.