Australian labour force sees no change in unemployment for June

Australia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in June according to the latest ABS data, suggesting that the RBA may be inclined to raise the interest rate at its next meeting.

“It’s another strong set of employment figures which keeps the pressure on a data-dependant RBA to potentially hike rates in August,” City Index Senior Market Analyst Matt Simpson said.

“It could take quite a set of lowballed inflation figures next week for that pressure to be removed.”

Simpson noted the upcoming inflation report due next week is a quarterly inflation report which will bear more weight on the RBA’s decision-making process with a view towards the interest rate cycle.

“The rise in employment in June saw the employment-to-population ratio remain at a record high 64.5 per cent, reflecting a tight labour market in which employment has recently increased in line with population growth,” ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

So what did the May data look like?

Last’s month data also showed unemployment at 3.5 per cent and the participation rate – a measure of how many people in the country are engaged with the workforce broadly – remains stable at 66.8 per cent.

The employment-to-population ratio sat slightly lower than the participation rate in March at 64.4 per cent.

In May, the underemployment rate climbed to 6.3 per cent. Seasonally adjusted, this reflected 6.4 per cent – that remains the same for June.

Full-time employment growth was slower in June than in March at 39,300 jobs to 9.868 million people.

Part-time employment decreased, however, by 2700 jobs to 4.177 million people.

May full-time employment increased by 61,7000 jobs to 9.8 million people; and part-time work growth was lower at 14,300 jobs to 4.18 million people.

Youth unemployment in the country sat at 7.8 per cent in May – that figure has decreased to 7.7 per cent but remains more or less stable.