- Bruce Hockman, general manager of macroeconomic statistics at Bureau of Statistics
Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8% even as employment declined last month following two months of strong growth. The Australian economy lost a net 1,000 jobs in December, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 5.8%, the lowest level in more than a year. Economists, however, had predicted a net loss of 10,000 jobs and an increase in the unemployment rate to 5.9% last month. Full-time employment surged by 17,600 in the reported month after soaring 41,600 a month earlier, whereas 18,500 part-time jobs were lost following a 29,700 advance in November. Furthermore, the participation rate also declined from 65.3% to 65.1%, indicating there were less people in the labour market.
The Australian labour market has performed particularly well over the last two years despite the magnitude of the mining slowdown. A surge in the services sector has helped to offset the large number of job losses in the resource industry. Early last year the Reserve Bank of Australia had estimated the jobless rate to hit 6.5%, whereas now the central bank expects it to stay around 6.0%-6.25% over the next year. Nevertheless, inflation remains stubbornly below the RBA's 2%-3% target band, at just 1.5% in the September quarter. Market participants are predicting less than a 20% chance the central bank cut its OCR at the February meeting.
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