SoFi CEO enters prepaid forward contract on 1.5 million shares
Investing.com-- Australia’s labor market grew substantially less than expected in June, while unemployment unexpectedly increased amid signs of steady cooling in the job market.
The total number of employed people grew by 2,000 in June, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. The print was a fraction of the 20,000 increase forecast by analysts, and marked a second consecutive month of weakness in the labor force.
Australia’s unemployment rate also unexpectedly grew to 4.3% from 4.1%, while overall hours worked shrank in June.
Australia’s participation rate– which gauges the percentage of the population that is in the labor sector– unexpectedly rose to 67.1% from 67.0%, indicating that despite recent cooling, the labor market still remained relatively tight. Shortages of skilled laborers across several sectors had greatly tightened Australia’s job market in the past three years.
Still, two months of softer job readings come amid growing headwinds for the Australian economy, especially from increased U.S. trade tariffs on commodities and cooling demand for the country’s key metal exports. Australian business activity was also seen cooling in recent months.
A cooling labor market, coupled with signs of softer inflation, gives the Reserve Bank of Australia more headroom to cut interest rates.
The central bank had unexpectedly left rates steady in July, but had flagged the potential for more cuts amid cooling inflation and a potential slowdown in the labor sector.