Australia’s National Jobless Rate in the Spotlight

Australia’s National Jobless Rate in the Spotlight
A staff member shucks oysters at the Sydney Fish Market in Sydney, Australia, on April 14, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
AAP
By AAP
10/15/2022
Updated:
10/16/2022

The state of the Australian labour market will be a focal point this week as the national statistics bureau releases its monthly jobs data.

Australia has been experiencing record-low unemployment as competition for workers remains fierce.

In August, the jobless rate lifted slightly to 3.5 percent as more people started looking for work after many bowed out of the job market due to winter illnesses.

Commonwealth Bank economists expect to see around 20,000 jobs added in September and the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.5 percent.

ANZ economists think the labour market will tighten even further and unemployment will hit 3.3 percent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its official labour force data on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Michele Bullock will deliver a speech in Sydney as the central bank releases the board minutes from its October rates decision.

They will provide some insights into the RBA’s move to ease to a lower-than-expected 25 basis point rate hike for the month.

Also on Tuesday, Roy Morgan and ANZ will release their joint weekly consumer confidence report.

On Wednesday, the ABS will publish its building activity report for the June quarter.

The Tax Institute will also hold a conference over three days in Sydney starting from Wednesday, with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, tax lawyer Geoffrey Lehmann and independent MP Allegra Spender on the speaker list.

Meanwhile, US stocks dropped on Friday as inflation expectations worsened and recession fears grew in the world’s biggest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 403.89 points, or 1.34 percent, to 29,634.83, the S&P 500 lost 86.84 points, or 2.37 percent, to 3583.07 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index dropped 327.76 points, or 3.08 percent, to 10,321.39.

Australian share futures were down 102 points, or 1.5 percent, to 6660.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday up 116.2 points, or 1.75 percent, to 6758.8. The broader All Ordinaries was up 114.1 points to 6948.6, a 1.67 percent rise.