Australia: Labour market seasonals strike again – TDS

Australian employment in March jumped by an outsized +60.9k (TD and mkt +20k) entirely skewed towards full-time employment at +74.5k notes research team at Westpac.

Key Quotes

“A pickup in the participation rate from 64.6% to 64.8% saw the unemployment rate remain at 5.9%.”

“The RBA is concerned about the weak underbelly of the labour market, but today’s trend pick-up in full-time hours worked and employment provides some offset.”

“Continued improvement in full-time employment trends is supportive for our Nov RBA rate hike call.”