Australia: Unemployment rate unexpectedly drops in November
Latest reading: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to a nine-month low of 3.9% in November (October: +4.1%), surprising market analysts, who had penciled in an increase. Meanwhile, the number of employed people rose by 35,600 in November in seasonally adjusted terms, deteriorating sharply from the 12,200 rise recorded in October; an increase in full-time employment outweighed a decline in part-time employment in November. Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted labor-force participation rate edged down to 67.0% from October’s 67.1%—surprising markets slightly on the downside—while the underemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1%.
Panelist insight: Nomura’s David Seif and Andrew Ticehurst commented:
“Stronger labour market data are often reported in November, and it is possible that the [Australian Bureau of Statistics] seasonal adjustment process is slow to capture the trend towards earlier sales events, including the growing popularity of November Black Friday sales. We currently anticipate a fairly flat December jobs report as “payback”, unwinding some of the strength reported today.”