Jobs data gradually cools
Employment rebounded as expected in March, but only by a bit less than expected at +32,200, following on from a much larger drop in February.
As such the 3-month average job gains in March had slowed to near zero, at just +2,000 per month.
There were fewer hours worked in March, partly thanks to Cyclone Alfred in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland.
With a small increase in the participation rate, the seasonally unemployment rate rounded up to 4.1 per cent...but only just.
The unemployment rate remains very low in Queensland, at under 4 per cent, but a bit higher in Victoria, at 4.4 per cent.
Other measures of slack were broadly unchanged in March, but remain tighter than they were coming into the pandemic 5 years earlier.
The wrap
Overall, there wasn't too much surprising in these figures, and markets weren't much moved at all.
This news largely pre-dates the tariff turmoil, and there may be some negative impacts on hiring through April and for the rest of the year, but these figures were robust enough for now.
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CoreLogic/Cotality reported that rents rose +1.7 per cent over the March quarter, but this was partly a seasonal lift, and the annual increase in rents has slowed.
CoreLogic reported that:
"...vacancy rates tightened to 1.6% in March, down from 2.0% in December and just 10 basis points above the record low seen in March 2024."
The full report you can read
here.
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