Fewer Australians work or look for work as workforce shrinks to just over 12 million in October

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Nov-14

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate fell by 0.8 per cent to 9.1 per cent in October 2014. The workforce fell by 215,000 to 12,00,000 in total, and the number of people who were underemployed rose by 102,000 to 9.3 per cent. The official unemployment rate was 6.2 per cent in September. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan notes that October was the 29th straight month in which more than one million Australians were unemployed, as well as the 35th successive month in which more than two million people have been either unemployed or underemployed

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

How we spent the mining bonanza

Original article by Matt Wade
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: 4 : 25-Aug-14

A new study, "The Effect of the Mining Boom on the Australian Economy", has been published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Authors Peter Downes, Kevin Anslow and Peter Tulip show that consumers saw a benefit from the resources boom due to two main factors. Income levels rose, and the foreign exchange rate was also lifted and made imports cheaper. This in turn meant a fall in car prices of 15% and one of 11% for household goods. Sales of these items were up 30% and 20% respectively as a result. The jobless rate is also some 1.25% lower than it would have been without the boom

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Confidence lifts but jobs lag

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Aug-14

The latest data compiled by National Australia Bank on the nation’s businesses, excluding agriculture, show that both confidence and trading conditions improved in July 2014. The latter are now at levels last witnessed in 2010, while sentiment is at the best reading since the global financial crisis. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures also indicate residential real estate prices growth of 10.1% for 2013-14. However the jobless rate for July was up as well, to 6.4%. This was the worst result in a dozen years

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, COMMONWEALTH SECURITIES LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Drop in unemployment figures mask the job losses recorded in July – Australian workforce in contraction

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Aug-14

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate fell by 0.4 per cent to 10.2 per cent in July 2014. The workforce fell by 141,000 to 12,367,000 in total, and the number of people who were underemployed fell by 109,000 to 8.7 per cent. The nation’s official unemployment rate was six per cent in June. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan notes that July was the 26th straight month in which more than one million people were unemployed, as well as the 32nd successive month in which more than two million people have been either unemployed or underemployed

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Living standards set to fall

Original article by Jacob Greber, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 21-Jul-14

The Melbourne Economic Forum has warned of a sharp rise in the unemployment rate and a reduced standard of living if Australia fails to take action to increase productivity. Economic modelling by the forum suggests that the jobless rate will rise to 6.6 per cent late in 2015 without such reform. Victoria University’s Professor James Giesecke says that productivity will need to grow by 0.7 per cent each year simply to preserve the current standard of living

CORPORATES
MELBOURNE ECONOMIC FORUM, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

75,000 jobs to go in mining’s new phase

Original article by Barry FitzGerald
The Australian – Page: 21-22 : 2-Jul-14

Justin Fabo, senior economist corporate and commercial at ANZ Banking, predicts the Australian resources and related services sector to shed up to 75,000 jobs by 2016. This would be a decline of 28%, and result from the transition from the construction to production phase at many mining and energy projects. Already, over-capacity in the market has brought redundancies at coal and iron ore operation. Fabo stresses that out of the 75,000 workers affected, a large share will be temporary migrants, and that these will simply return home rather than add to the nation’s unemployment rate

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN WORKFORCE AND PRODUCTIVITY AGENCY