Australian Employment Change figures saw the economy add 14.6k jobs in August. Expectations called for an increase of 5.9k after the economy added 18.7k jobs in July. The Unemployment Rate fell to 4.1% from 4.3% in the preceding month.
The uptick reveals continued strength in the mining sector as companies expanded capacity to meet Chinese demand for coal and iron ore. That said, firms dependent on domestic demand are likely to cut jobs as economic growth falters. Indeed, GDP grew at the slowest rate in 5 years in while consumer spending fell to the lowest since 1993 in the second quarter.
Rosy labor figures may reverse course into the second half of the year as China feels the sting of the global slowdown and mining demand begins to cool. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens has said that “The rate of employment growth will slow. It is starting to do that already.” The bank chief expects the jobless rate to rise “a bit” over the course of next year.
For a complete listing of data releases for this week, please see the DailyFX Economic Calendar.
Al Bawaba
