Australia: Unemployment rate at all-time low in July
Seasonally-adjusted employment decreased by 40,900 in July, following 88,400 jobs added in June. July’s result was driven by an increase in both full-time and part-time employment.
Meanwhile, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate fell to a record-low of 3.4% in July from June’s 3.5%. However, the participation rate fell to 66.4% from the previous month’s 66.8%, although the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate declined to 6.0% in July from 6.1% in June.
Commenting on the short-term outlook, Lee Sue Ann, economist at UOB, stated:
“Overall, the Australian labour market looks to tighten further in the next couple of months before slowing growth will likely push the jobless rate higher back towards the 3.8%-4.0% levels. Wage growth is also expected to pick up to over 3.0% by 2023.”