Economic news

Australia Job Ads Rebound 6.2% in Oct as Lockdowns Lift

SYDNEY, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Australian job advertisements rebounded sharply in October from three months of decline as coronavirus lockdowns began to ease in Sydney and Melbourne, boding well for a rapid recovery in the labour market.

Monday’s figures from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job ads rose 6.2% in October from September, when they fell 2.8%.

Ads in New South Wales jumped 17% in October, while average monthly ads of 203,428 were only just short of where they were in June when the lockdowns were first instigated.

The official jobless rate has fallen by more than expected this year to reach 4.6% in September, though the latest drop was largely due to people being unable to look for work and thus not being counted as unemployed.

Analysts at NAB noted businesses were reporting significant difficulty finding suitable labour, a trend that was likely to finally deliver an increase in wages growth.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is seeking to drive unemployment down to 4% or even lower in the hope of finally lifting wages growth after years of tepid gains.

The central bank holds its November policy meeting on Tuesday and speculation is rife it will soften its previous projection that rates would stay at 0.1% until 2024, perhaps bringing the timing forward to 2023 or late 2022.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Source: Reuters

 


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