Australian February jobs report is an enormous beat
Employment Change: +88.7K
- expected +30K, prior +29.1K
- Australian employment is now higher than its pre-pandemic peak
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%
- expected 6.3%, prior 6.4%
Full-Time Employment Change: +89.1K
- prior was +59.0K
Part-Time Employment Change: -0.5K
- prior was -29.8K
Participation Rate: 66.1%
- expected 66.1%, prior was 66.1%
Under-employment rose to 8.4%
Hours worked +6.1% m/m (they fell in January) and 0.2% y/y. Hours worked still not yet at pre-pandemic levels.
I noted yesterday Australia was approaching the cliff edge drop of jobs support. At least these numbers indicating the jobs market is going over the cliff in good shape.
