Australia: Labour market begins to deteriorate – UOB

Economist at UOB Group Lee Sue Ann assessed the latest results from the Australian labour market.

Key Quotes

“The Australian economy lost 594,300 jobs in April, significantly below a revised 700 gain (5,900 previously) in March, and more than the 550,000 job losses consensus were expecting. The unemployment rate surged to 6.2% - the highest it has been since July 2015 – from 5.2% previously, but came in better than expectations for 8.2%, largely because of a steep fall in the participation rate from 66.0% to 63.5%, reflecting the weak job market conditions.”

“As expected, the latest jobs report (which includes the reference weeks of 29 March to 11 April) provides a stark illustration of how the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the Australian economy so far. Yet, the full toll on unemployment is still yet to come. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) expects unemployment to jump to 10.0% in June, whilst year-end unemployment is expected to hit 9.0%.”