Unemployment in Australia has bucked the trend, coming in at a better than expected 5.7%. The Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 13.4 million hours to 1,522.4 million hours, after 13 months of declines.
The strength of jobs, comes just days after the RBA increased the official cash rate to 3.25%. The ASX Target Rate Tracker now indicates a 100% expectation that the RBA will put rates up to 3.50% next month.
However there should still be caution in interpreting the data. Is the strength of the economy just a one off side effect of an unprecedented stimulus package, and when the stimulus has passed and all the school halls have been built, can the economy sustain these jobs and the current levels of spending?
ยป 6202.0 – Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2009 – The ABS, 8th October 2009.