"We expect the RBA to ease again with inflation likely to remain below the target band for some time"
-ANZ
Advertised Australian job openings grew in May, suggesting labour demand continues to show resilience amid shaky economic settings. Job ads were 2.4% higher in May than a month earlier, ANZ's Job Advertisement Series reported, following a revised 0.6% decline in April. Newspaper listings tumbled 12.6% over the month, while internet job ads were up 2.6%. The data series captures job ads from Australia's state capitals and comes a week ahead of Australia's official employment statistics for May. In April, the Australian economy added a net 10,800 jobs, helping to keep the unemployment rate at a two-and-a-half-year low of 5.7%. Labour demand moderated significantly in early 2016, after Australia recorded the biggest annual gain in jobs since 2006 last year.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed that Australian consumer prices fell in May, according to a monthly gauge, adding to concerns over the soft state of Australia's inflation. Consumer prices fell 0.2% month-on-month in Australia in May, according to the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute Inflation Gauge, following a 0.1% increase in April and no change in March. The annual change in inflation, according to the gauge, slowed from 1.5% to just 1.0%, the weakest since the series began almost a decade ago.
© Dukascopy Bank SA