Australia's labor market cooled slightly last month, with only around 16,000 new jobs created in October, less than analysts had expected, according to the Bloomberg consensus. At the same time, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1%, but only because the participation rate fell slightly from 67.2 to 67.1%, Commerzbank’s FX analyst Volkmar Baur notes.
The three-month average is still above 40,000 new jobs.” “And unemployment, at 4.1%, remains well below pre-pandemic levels, with the participation rate continuing to be very high. The unemployment rate for young people aged 15-19, who tend to be more sensitive to the business cycle, has even fallen to its lowest level in a year.” “The Reserve Bank of Australia should feel vindicated in its hawkish stance earlier in the month when it left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%.