Unemployment rate to fall further
A fascinating data dump today, with building approvals tanking to half-decade lows, but job vacancies soaring to 242,000, the highest figure on record.
In fact, before the seasonal adjustment there were nearly ¼ million job vacancies at the end of November 2018.
In fact, before the seasonal adjustment there were nearly ¼ million job vacancies at the end of November 2018.
Australia has never had so many jobs waiting to be filled!
The labour force is larger than it used to be, of course, but even as a proportion of the labour force this is uncharted territory, and suggests that the falling national unemployment rate is no fluke.
Indeed, Australia's unemployment rate will have a 4-handle soon enough.
New South Wales is off the charts at 86,300 jobs waiting to be filled, while Queensland and Western Australia are at half-decade highs, and Tasmania is at its highest ever number of vacancies too.
The number of unemployed persons per job vacancy is now down to just 2.8, down from 3.4 a year earlier (and more than 5 a few years ago).
In New South Wales there are a mere 2.1 job vacancies per unemployed person, and with the city-wide unemployment rate in Sydney only about 4 per cent there may be some upwards pressure on wages in some sectors now, as employers find it harder to fill roles.
Overall, very strong numbers indeed, but this could be a classic late-cycle blow-off if the outlook for housing construction keeps deteriorating as it has been - so much hangs on off that.
