The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publication Labour Force, Australia shows that the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 points to 5.3% in seasonally adjusted terms, but remained constant at 5.2% in trend terms in July. The participation rate also increased by 0.2 points to 65.5% in seasonally adjusted terms, and remained at 65.3% in trend terms over the month. Employment increased 23,500 (0.2%) to 11,235,700. Full-time employment decreased 4,200 to 7,866,400 and part-time employment increased 27,700 to 3,369,400. In the ACT, the unemployment rate remained at 3.4%, while the participation rate dropped by 0.1 point to 72.9% in July. For more information click here
Job ads very reported as both up and down by the major indexes:
The Advantage Job Index slipped 1.30% in July, further evidence of a slowing job market. Historically the job market falters at election time. It will be interesting to see to what extent the market picks up again post election. Ironically, irrespective of which party wins, we believe the employment market will recover. The fall this month was unusually unevenly split with Building and Construction and Human Resources taking significant hits. Read the full report here…
The ANZ Job Advertisements Series shows that the total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the Internet rose by 1.3%, to a seasonally adjusted average of 171,685 per week in July. This monthly rise follows strong 2.8% and 2.7% increases in June and May respectively, meaning the series is now 36.1% higher than it was a year ago (at its cyclical trough). However total job advertisements remain 38.2% below the all-time peak reached in April 2008. In the ACT the average number of newspaper job advertisements per week increased by 1.4% in seasonally adjusted terms, and by 0.7% in trend terms in July. For more information click here
This post was drawn from the Canberra Business Council’s Business Bullets newsletter. To become a member of the Canberra Business Council, please visit the CBC website here: http://www.canberrabusinesscouncil.com.au
