Australia’s employment grew modestly in October, rising by 15.9k or 0.1% mom, falling short of the anticipated 25k increase. This represents the slowest pace of employment growth in recent months, following a period of more robust gains averaging 0.3% per month over the last six months. Full-time positions rose by 9.7k, while part-time jobs increased by 6.2k, both contributing to the incremental rise.
Unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1%, matching expectations, although the participation rate saw a slight dip from 67.2% to 67.1%. The number of unemployed rose by 1.3% mom, adding 8.3k to the job-seeking pool. In terms of labor utilization, monthly hours worked inched up by 0.1% mom, reflecting only minimal expansion in total labor demand.
This marks the third consecutive month with an unemployment rate of 4.1%, which stands 0.6% points higher than June 2023 low of 3.5%. Nonetheless, this rate remains 1.1% below the pre-pandemic level of 5.2% in March 2020.
The deceleration in employment growth could indicate a stabilizing labor market, aligning with recent RBA commentary on maintaining a restrictive policy stance until clear demand cooling is observed.
