Unemployment at 10% in July highest in nearly a year

August 13, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 13-Aug-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,021,000 Australians were employed in July, up 167,000 over the past year. The increase was driven by growth in both full-time employment (which was up 66,000 to 7,765,000) and an even stronger increase in part-time employment (up 101,000 to 4,256,000). The figures also show that 1,329,000 Australians were unemployed (10% of the workforce) in July, an increase of 93,000 (up 0.6%) on a year ago. In addition, 1,148,000 Australians (8.6% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a fall of 78,000 in a year (down 0.8%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 10% for July remains substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for June 2018 of 5.4%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the increasing casualisation of the Australian workforce has strengthened in recent years with the rise of the so-called "gig" economy, but Foodora’s impeding exit from the Australian market shows that there are limits to this type of employment model when regulatory and competition considerations are taken into account. Foodora’s exit also signifies how important it is for governments to create sensible industrial relations laws that encourage employers to take on new workers rather than penalise employers looking to grow their business.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Jobs boom raises stakes for RBA

July 20, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Jul-18

Official data shows that Australia’s unemployment rate was steady at 5.4 per cent in June, with the economy adding a higher-than-expected 50,900 jobs. This comprised 41,200 full-time and 9,700 part-time jobs. The data prompted a rebound in the Australian dollar on 19 July, while it may put pressure on the Reserve Bank to move more quickly to tighten monetary policy. The trend jobless rate was last at its current level in November 2012, when the cash rate was 3.25 per cent, compared with 1.5 per cent at present.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TD SECURITIES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Unemployment drops to 8.7% in June, lowest since 2016

July 9, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jul-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,245,000 Australians were employed in June 2018, down 85,000 over the last year. The fall was driven by a drop in full-time employment, which was down 300,000 to 7,800,000; part-time employment increased by 215,000 to 4,445,000. The figures also show that 1,171,000 Australians were unemployed (8.7% of the workforce) in June, a decrease of 29,000 (down 0.2%) on a year ago. In addition, 1,302,000 Australians (9.7% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a fall of 143,000 in a year (down 1%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 8.7% for June remains substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for May of 5.4%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that over 2.4 million Australians looking for work or looking for more work in June explains why wage growth remains at record lows. Improving wage growth and the performance of the Australian economy is as simple as designing policies that engage these under-utilised workers and encourage employers to offer more jobs, and more hours, to Australians who want more work.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

RBA to keep interest rates on hold until 2020: Macquarie

June 22, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 22-Jun-18

Macquarie Group economists Ric Deverell and Justin Fabo forecast that Australia’s unemployment rate will not fall below five per cent until 2020. They warn that "persistent" spare capacity in the economy will ensure that wages growth remains subdued in the near-term. As a result, they do not expect the Reserve Bank to tighten monetary policy until at least 2020. However, they note that a number of domestic and international factors could affect the timing of an interest rate rise.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Ratio of casual workers steady for 20 years

June 19, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 19-Jun-18

The Australian Industry Group’s analysis of official labour market data suggests that contrary to unions’ claims, the proportion of casual workers has remained steady at about 25 per cent of all employees since 1998. This is despite the fact that the number of casual employees rose from 1.7 million in August 1998 to 2.6 million in February 2018. Ai Group’s chief economist Julie Toth notes that there has been 53 per cent growth in the number of casual employees over this period, and 56 per cent growth in permanent employee numbers.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, ACTU, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED

Jobless rate supertanker heads lower

June 15, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Jun-18

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 12,000 jobs were created in May, although economists had forecast that the economy added 19,000 jobs. An additional 32,600 part-time jobs partially offset the loss of 20,600 full-time positions. The official unemployment rate fell by 0.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent, which is its lowest level since November 2012. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 per cent to 8.5 per cent and the proportion of people who are employed but looking for more work was steady at 13.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Australian employment up by over 350,000 in a year

June 4, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Jun-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,415,000 Australians were employed in May 2018, an increase of 355,000 over the last year. The increase was driven by full-time employment, which rose 307,000 to 7,859,000; part-time employment was up 48,000 to 4,286,000. The figures also show that 1,316,000 million Australians were unemployed (9.8% of the workforce) in May, an increase of 32,000 (unchanged in percentage terms) on a year ago. In addition, 1,251,000 Australians (9.3% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a fall of 87,000 in a year (down 0.9%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.8% for May is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for April of 5.6%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage by 3.5% to almost $720 per week was based on the misleading ABS unemployment figure that under-states the "true" level of unemployment and under-employment in Australia. In future the FWC needs to consider the more accurate Roy Morgan employment figures that consistently records that there are more than 2.5 million Australians looking for work or looking for more work.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Most lack full-time jobs with benefits

May 29, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 29-May-18

Analysis of official data by the Centre for Future Work shows that just 49.97 per cent of full-time workers in Australia had paid leave entitlements in 2017, compared with 51.35 per cent in 2012. The proportion of part-time jobs across the economy has in turn risen from 29.7 per cent to a record 31.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of workers who are underemployed has risen from 7.6 per cent to 9.1 per cent over the last five years. The data also shows that 12.4 per cent of employees in the private sector are now covered by enterprise agreements, down from 18.9 per cent in 2012. However, the proportion of workers covered by industry awards has risen from 16.6 per cent to 23.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Coalition achieves million jobs vow

May 18, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 6 : 18-May-18

Official data shows that Australia’s unemployment rate rose from 5.5 per cent to a nine-month high of 5.6 per cent in April. Some 23,000 jobs were created in April, and the economy has added 1.014 million jobs since the Coalition won office in September 2013. Former prime minister Tony Abbott had made an election commitment to generate one million new jobs during the first five years of a Coalition government. Tom Kennedy of JP Morgan notes that the construction and healthcare sectors accounted for more than 50 per cent of the jobs created during 2017.

CORPORATES
JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Part-time employment hits record high and 1.35m now under-employed

May 7, 2018roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-May-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 11,962,000 Australians were employed in April 2018 – an increase of 46,000 over the last year. The increase was driven by part-time employment, which rose 154,000 to a record 4,454,000; full-time employment was down 108,000 to 7,508,000. The figures also show that 1,196,000 million Australians were unemployed (9.1% of the workforce) in April, a decrease of 88,000 (down 0.7%) on a year ago. In addition, 1,349,000 Australians (10.2% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 259,000 in a year (up 1.9%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.1% for April is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for March of 5.5%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the continuing strength in part-time employment is causing under-employment levels to spike from already high levels, and it is imperative that the May 2018 Federal Budget seriously considers the continuing high levels of unemployment and under-employment.