Australia witnessed a contraction in employment by -14.6k in July, starkly missing expectations of a 15.2k growth. This decline was majorly attributed to a drop in full-time jobs by -24.2k, even as part-time employment saw an increase of 9.6k.
Unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7%, surpassing market anticipations which had pinned it at 3.6%. The participation rate also registered a dip, moving from 66.8% to 66.7%.
However, it wasn’t all bleak. Monthly hours worked showed a marginal increase of 0.2% mom. Commenting on this aspect, Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, observed, “The strength in hours worked shows that it continues to be a tight labour market.”
Jarvis pointed out that hours worked have risen by an impressive 5.2% compared to July 2022, a significant outperformance relative to the 2.8% annual increase in employment.
He further noted, “The strength in hours worked over the past year, relative to employment growth, shows the demand for labour is continuing to be met, to some extent, by people working more hours.”
