Jobs market holding strong
Total employed persons was reported at a new 'high of 14,458,600 for August.
Those with an eagle eye will note that this was actually lower than the 14,469,000 reported last month, but after revisions to earlier figures this was reported as a monthly increase for August of +47,500.
Over the year, the increase was +455,400 or a very strong +3.2 per cent.
All of the increases this month were reported as part-time, while full-time employment fell.
Looking through the noise, the 3-month average increase in employment was a bit lower than was reported last month, but still very solid at +48k.
As correctly anticipated by Westpac, the unemployment rate fell slightly over the month, although at 4.16 per cent the figure still rounded off to 4.2 per cent.
The cycle low was extremely tight, at below 3½ per cent in mid-2022, and we've been trending higher since then.
The underemployment rate increased modestly over the month from 6.3 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
The wrap
Hiring continues at very solid levels, overall, despite the very sluggish economy.
The government has come under a fair bit of fire for its loose spending habits, and this has translated to a marked expansion in the number of public sector and healthcare roles.
After the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates by ½ percentage point yesterday, this was a carefully watched release.
The labour market is still gradually weakening - albeit only slowly - and SEEK reported that applications per job advertisement were the second highest on record last month.
Nevertheless, these figures remained very solid, and CBA pushed out its forecast for a first interest rate cut from November to December 2024, and even that looks a little too dovish.
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