ZCZC
BCN-33
AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY-EMPLOYMENT
Aussie employment jumps, jobless rate steady at 5.4 pct
SYDNEY, July 19, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – The Australian economy added 50,900
jobs in June, about three times that of economists’ estimates, while the
unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent, latest official figures showed
Thursday.
The number of new jobs was highlighted by the addition of 41,200 full-time
positions, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics statement on
Thursday.
The gain in employment was the largest since November, bringing “an end to
the soft patch since January” and was mostly due to the rise in the full-time
positions rather than the addition of 9,700 part-time positions to the
economy, economic consultancy Capital Economics’ chief Australia and New
Zealand economist Paul Dales wrote in an analysis.
The “bulk of the evidence from other sources suggests that employment
growth will remain solid over the coming months” but at this point, the
unemployment rate was not low enough to prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia
to decide that its 1.5-percent interest rate needs to rise soon, said Dales.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1308