* Employment rose by 9.1k in September. Full-time jobs rose by 5.0k and part-time jobs by 4.1k.
* The unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in September, to be slightly higher from the year ago level of 5.4%.
* The participation rate eased by 0.1% to 64.9% in September, which is the lowest since 2006.
* Annual jobs growth is running at 95k, or 0.8%pa, averaging 8k a month.
Today’s 9.1k rise in jobs in September was below market expectations, which had centred on a rise of 15k {CBA (f) +20k}. The unemployment rate edged lower from a downwardly revised August figure, thanks mainly to a very fortuitous drop in the participation rate to 64.9% from 65.0%. Emphasising the point, the participation rate is now at its lowest level since November 2006! Over the past year jobs growth has been a relatively weak 95k or just 0.8%. That’s well below the 2%pa average over the past decade.
Read the full report: Economic Research
Commonwealth Bank