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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
More data have emerged to suggest Australia is on the road to economic recovery.
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Yesterday, employment jumped by a massive 71,500 jobs, surprising a market which had only expected a 10,000 job rise.
According to the most recent labour force survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, full-time employment rose by 17,800 jobs while part-time employment jumped by 53,700 jobs.
Despite the massive increase, the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.4 per cent; however, this was also better than market expectations as industry pundits had predicted the rate would creep up to 5.5 per cent.
“While there is little doubt that this overstates the strength in employment in February, and we know that the labour numbers can be very volatile month-to-month, it is hard to argue that the numbers are not a positive sign,” HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said.
“Of course, reading the labour force survey is often more art than science. Our broad read of the survey is that the labour market is steady and that the worst is probably behind us.
“We maintain our view that the unemployment rate will remain under 5.5 per cent this year and will edge downward in the second half of the year.”
