Australia: Labor market continues to add new jobs in November
Seasonally-adjusted employment increased by 37,000 in November compared to the previous month, following the revised 28,700 jobs added in October (previously reported: +32,800 jobs) and overshooting analysts’ expectations for a gain of 20,000. November’s reading was driven by a robust increase of part-time workers more than offsetting a small decline in full-time workers.
Seasonally-adjusted unemployment inched up from October’s over six-year low of 5.0% to 5.1% in November. Moreover, November saw an increase in the number of people actively looking for a job, as the seasonally-adjusted participation rate rose from 65.5% in October to 65.7%. On the other hand, both the seasonally-adjusted underutilization rate and the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate edged up from the previous month in November.