Australia's Jobless Rate Falls To 6.2%, Beats Estimates
International Business Times
Published Sep 10, 2015 05:09AM ET
Updated Sep 10, 2015 05:45AM ET
Australia's Jobless Rate Falls To 6.2%, Beats Estimates
By Avaneesh Pandey -
Australia’s unemployment rate for the month of August fell to 6.2 percent, down from 6.3 percent a month earlier.
The number of unemployed fell by 14,400 to just over 780,000 while 17,400 new jobs were created last month, according to figures released Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Full-time jobs rose by 11,500 -- reflecting an uptick in hiring by employers buoyed by record-low interest rates, weak wage growth and falling currency.
“Even with the volatility that goes from month to month, the fact is, over the last three months … nearly 60,000 jobs have been created in Australia,” Joe Hockey, the country’s federal treasurer, reportedly said. The number of jobs added in August was three times over economists' estimates.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), citing “very accommodative” global financial conditions and falling terms of trade -- the value of a country’s exports relative to its imports -- in Australia, announced that it will continue to hold interest rates at a record low of 2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar, which recently hit a six-year low amid plunging commodity prices -- caused by a drop in Chinese demand -- briefly touched 70 cents against the U.S. dollar before dropping to 69.45 cents.
“Just as the appreciation [of the Australian dollar] helped stabilize the economy in the upswing of the boom in commodity prices and mining investment, the depreciation is helping in the downswing,” Philip Lowe, deputy governor of the RBA, reportedly said Wednesday.
However, while the better-than-expected employment figures were welcomed by analysts and the Australian government, many cautioned falling domestic and global demand might crimp employment growth in the future.
“The slowdown in GDP growth to its weakest in over four years in the second quarter suggests that a cooling of employment growth may still lie ahead,” Daniel Martin, senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
In the second quarter of this year, Australia’s economy expanded 0.2 percent from the previous quarter -- lower than the expected 0.4 percent.
Get The News You Want
Written By: International Business Times
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.