Australia: Unemployment rate unchanged for fifth consecutive month as expected in May
Latest reading: The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in May for the fifth month running and in line with market estimates. Still, the number of employed people fell by 2,500 in April in seasonally adjusted terms, contrasting the 87,600 rise recorded in April; a decline in part-time employment outweighed an increased in full-time employment in May.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted labor-force participation rate edged down to 67.0% from April’s 67.1%—surprising markets on the downside—while the underemployment rate eased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9%.
Panelist insight: Nomura’s Andrew Ticehurst and David Seif commented:
“While job growth fell modestly, this follows a strong jump in April and most other details of the report appear solid. […] It remains possible, in our view, that recent employment data have been supported by the national election held on 3 May. The survey reference period for today’s release was 4-17 May, so it is possible that some workers who were temporarily employed to assist with the election (setting up voting booths, distribution and counting voting papers etc.) were still recorded as employed in May. Reflecting this, we are inclined to look for another fairly soft reading on jobs in June.”