Australia employment contracted -40.9k in July, much worse than expectation of 25.0k growth. Full time jobs decreased by 86.9k while part time jobs rose 46k.
Unemployment rate dropped from 3.5% to 3.4%. Participation rate dropped notably from 66.8% to 55.4%. Monthly hours worked in all jobs dropped -16m hours, or -0.8% mom.
“The fall in unemployment in July reflects an increasingly tight labour market, including high job vacancies and ongoing labour shortages, resulting in the lowest unemployment rate since August 1974,” Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said.
