I posted on the jobs report due from Australia at 11.30 am Sydney time (0030 GMT and 1930 US Eastern time) here:
Preview comments via CBA:
- We expect a modest gain in employment in December of +20k after a large 61.5k lift in November.
- Trend employment growth has slowed, as have forward looking indicators of labour demand.
- We expect the participation rate to remain unchanged at a record high of 67.2% which would see the unemployment rate remain steady at 3.9%.
Scotia:
- Australia’s job market has been on fire but will it continue? An uninterrupted string of job gains dating back to May has driven almost 300k more jobs.
- The effect has driven the labour force participation rate to a record high of 67.2% while keeping the unemployment rate around the record low range of 3.5–3.9%.
- Wednesday’s tally for December is forecast to keep the momentum going with a mild gain in employment.