Part-time jobs surge
Employment jumped by +39,900 in November, driven by part-time jobs, to just shy of 13 million.
However, the October figure was revised down to -24,800, bringing the 3-month average increase in employment to a rather modest +9,500.
This was enough to hold the annual increase in employment steady this month at +2 per cent.
The monthly unemployment rate dipped from 5.31 per cent to 5.18 per cent, although it's still a long way from the level needed for stronger wages growth.
In New South Wales, quarterly employment fell by a nasty -39,500, with Queensland leading quarterly jobs growth, followed by Victoria.
Although New South Wales and Victoria still have unemployment rates under 5 per cent, in NSW the trend is now higher, and elsewhere unemployment rates are generally at about 6 per cent or above.
Across Queensland the unemployment rate remains far too high at 6.4 per cent.
With employment growth driven by part-time work, the annual growth in trend monthly hours worked slumped to just +1.6 per cent.
The wrap
Overall, while the headline figure looked great, the broader measures of slack are still high in historical terms.
And another forward-looking indicator today from Seek showed negative year-on-year growth in job ads, and the private sector going sharply backwards.
