Australian Unemployment Climbs to 6.9% Amid Melbourne Drag

For a fresh perspective on the stories that matter for Australian business and politics, sign up for our new weekly newsletter.

Australian unemployment climbed in September -- though by less than expected -- as Victoria state‘s lockdown dented a recovery that’s been spurred by an improving economy in the rest of the country.

The jobless rate advanced to 6.9% from 6.8% in August versus economists median estimate of 7%, data from the statistics bureau showed Thursday in Sydney. Employment declined by 29,500 in September, ending a three-month expansion, compared with an expected 40,000 loss. The participation rate declined to 64.8%.

The Australian dollar was little changed at the time of the release, and traded at 71.33 U.S. cents at 1:46 p.m. in Sydney.

The data reflect Melbourne remaining under Stage 4 restrictions and a nighttime curfew during the period as authorities tried to contain a renewed Covid outbreak. The Reserve Bank of Australia predicts Victorias lockdown cut economic growth last quarter by at least 2 percentage points and the Treasury sees unemployment peaking at 8% this quarter.

What Bloombergs Economists Say

“Australias labor market data is a combination of two stories, a virus-stricken Victorian economy in lockdown, and a recovering economy in other regions. While headline indicators paint a weak picture in aggregate, the real story is of an ongoing lift in hours worked across virus-free regions. Significant slack remains, but the underlying picture in September is a better one than the headline aggregates suggest.”

James McIntyre, economist

The RBA has kept its key interest rate near zero since March, when it began a bond-buying program to hold down the three-year yield at around 0.25%. That helps lower borrowing costs across the economy and signals rates wont rise for an extended period.

在在今天的其他细节的就业报告：

{18 } 每月小时0.5工作玫瑰％ {18} 在就业一柄高达11.4％，而欠利用推进到18.3％

在就业率下降了0.2个百分点至60.3％，并且是倒在去年同期

全职工作岗位减少了20,100和兼职角色的2.4个百分点降至9400

“的九月数据提供了进一步的见解维多利亚的第4阶段的限制劳动力市场的影响，”比约贾维斯，在ABS处劳动统计的头。 “就业维多利亚下降36000，以下坠落在八月37000”。

在相比之下，昆士兰州和南澳大利亚看到了最大的就业增长，反映了已经允许社会的限制进一步放宽在控制病毒的那些国家的成功。

央行行长菲利普·洛在突出演讲周四早些时候已经出现了在澳大利亚西部，在那里边界保持关闭澳大利亚的其余部分的采矿重地一些劳动力短缺的报告。

维多利亚，澳大利亚第二人口最多的国家，现在开始放松其严格锁定为新的病毒的情况下下降。

洛还表示，央行正努力通过任何进一步的宽松政策将有多少牵引获得，对财务的潜在影响这样的举动，什么国际同行采取任何新的政策措施前正在做的稳定。

{} 28 省长指出的不均匀方式的流行已经影响到迪菲出租行业 {} 28

{16}

The central bank in September also announced an expansion of its lending facility for banks and signaled that it remains open to exploring additional measures to support the economy.

{16}{17}

Among other details in todays jobs report:

{17}{18}

• Monthly hours worked rose by 0.5%

  {18}{19}

• Under-employment edged up to 11.4%, while under-utilization advanced to 18.3%

  {19}{20}

• The employment-to-population ratio fell 0.2 percentage point to 60.3%, and was down 2.4 points on the same time last year

  {20}{21}

• Full-time jobs fell by 20,100 and part-time roles dropped 9,400

  {21}{22}

“The September data provides further insights into the labor market impacts from the Stage 4 restrictions in Victoria,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor statistics at the ABS. “Employment in Victoria decreased by 36,000, following a fall of 37,000 in August.”

{22}

{24}

In contrast, Queensland and South Australia saw the largest job gains, reflecting those states success in controlling the virus that has allowed a further relaxation of social restrictions.

{24}{25}

RBA Governor Philip Lowe highlighted in a speech earlier Thursday that there have been reports of some labor shortages in the mining powerhouse of Western Australia, where borders remain shut to the rest of Australia.

{25}{26}

Victoria, Australias second most populous state, is now beginning to ease its strict lockdown as new virus cases fall.

{26}{27}

Lowe also said the RBA is working through how much traction any further easing will gain, the potential effect on financial stability of such a move, and what international counterparts are doing before taking any new policy steps.

{27}{28}

The governor noted the uneven way the pandemic has affected different industries.

{28}

{30}

“The hospitality industry -- in which many young people and women work -- has been worst affected, with almost 300,000 job losses between February and May,” Lowe said. “There has been an encouraging recovery of late, and for this to be sustained our economy will need to open up further.”

{30}

He made it clear that employment is at the front-and-center of the central banks thinking.

“In terms of unemployment, we want to see more than just ‘progress towards full employment,’” Lowe said. “We want to see a return to labor market conditions that are consistent with inflation being sustainably within the 2% to 3% target range.”

(Updates with comments from Lowe in third-last paragraph. A version of this story was corrected to reflect a revised August participation rate.)