Australia's Dec jobs report: Modest rise in full time employment, jobless rate ticks up

Australia's employment report came quite soft, judging by the modest rise in full time employment. While the total change was 13.5k vs 10k exp, full time jobs creation stood at 9.3k vs 38.4k last, while part time stood at 4.2k vs -0.2k last. The prticipation rate came at 64.7% vs 64.6% last, with the jobless rate at 5.8% vs 5.7% last. The Australian Dollar saw a downtick towards 0.75 round nuumber after the data. 

DECEMBER KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 8,200 to 11,966,800.
• Unemployment increased 3,200 to 725,700.
• Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7%.
• Participation rate remained steady at 64.6%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.3 million hours to 1,669.1 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 13,500 to 11,985,900. Full-time employment increased 9,300 to 8,176,500 and part-time employment increased 4,200 to 3,809,500.
• Unemployment increased 14,700 to 741,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 15,000 to 528,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 300 to 212,200.
• Unemployment rate increased 0.1 pts to 5.8%.
• Participation rate increased 0.1 pts to 64.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.9 million hours to 1,670.4 million hours.