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"There's obviously still a degree a weakness in a heavy skew towards part-time employment this month, which is a trend we've seen through this year, which does suggest there's a certain amount of slack in the labour force and we saw that reflected I suppose in the very low wages we had yesterday".
-Michael Blythe, Commonwealth Bank
The latest data showed Australian job creation jumps faster than expected in July, however, a sharp decline in full-time jobs inspired concerns about the health of the labour market. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, employment went up by 26,200 in July, following a rise of 7,900 in June, respectively. A median estimate of economists forecasted an increase of 11,000. Nevertheless, the report showed a sharp decrease in full-time employment, namely 45,400 drop in July after an increase of 38,400 during the previous month. The unemployment rate, in turn, lost 0.1% slipping to 5.7%. Eventually workforce participation which stands for the percentage of workers employed or actively seeking work – remained almost unchanged at 64.9%.The following data suggests that Australia's labour market has tightened since the beginning of the year, when unemployment was at 6%. Moreover, the highest national unemployment rate was noted 6.4% in July 2014 while in 2015 was around 6%.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lowered interest rates in August, as policymakers are trying to combat weak inflation. It was the second rate reduction since May. The minutes of the August meeting also suggested that officials are expecting to broad support for the additional monetary easing.