...equity markets have been obsessed about short term rate cut prospects, but lose sight of longer term price to pay as macro headwinds gaining traction.
...of course, short term market participants are out for short term gains, long term market participants never care as much about macros, because they think they can ride through the storm with their companies (never mind if they have fall sharply first in due time). Employment jumps 38,500 in April, jobless rate rises to 4.1pc
Sarah Jones
The number: Australian employment increased 38,500 in April, following a loss of 6600 the previous month, seasonally adjusted. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent.
That’s up from 3.9 per cent in March which has been revised higher. Consensus was for 23,700 jobs created and unemployment at 3.9 per cent.
What was said: ”The 30,000 people increase in unemployment reflected more people without jobs available and looking for work, and also more people than usual indicating that they had a job that they were waiting to start in,” said ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis.
Why it matters: The labour market is still too strong to bring inflation back to the Reserve Bank’s target. The job report is notoriously volatile due to seasonal adjustments.
What has changed: Inflation is slowing, but services is proving sticky. The Reserve Bank this month downwardly revised its jobless rate projections to 4 per cent by June, from 4.2 per cent in its previous forecasts.
What next: Retail sales will be released on May 28 and the monthly inflation indicator the following day.
