AUSTRALIA'S economy had been rocked by the recent collapse in global commodity prices. Falling iron ore and coal prices have hit both the mining industry and government tax revenues particularly hard. This has revealed a weakness in the labour market that, until now, had been covered up by the commodity boom.
But the latest set of job figures released today suggests that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. An extra 37,700 jobs were created in March, more than twice what economists had expected. Following on from another robust jobs report in February, the surge in employment has reduced Australia's unemployment rate to 6.1% from the 12-year high of 6.4% recorded in January. That, coupled with the recent increase in job vacancies, has seeded hopes that the labour market may be finally recovering.
However, it is probably too soon to say that the economic slowdown has ended. Wages have...Continue reading
No comments:
Post a Comment