Tag Archives: Jobs

Australia’s Economy Supported By Strong Employment Trends

Australia’s Economy Supported By Strong Employment Trends

As the world economy seems to be caught in a wide range of tumultuous events, certain regions have managed to show stable growth trends in key areas of its workforce.

In August 2019, Australia’s employment figures increased by 34,700 (to reach 12.93 million), which was a strong improvement on the increase of 36,400 during the previous month.  These results actually beat analyst estimates for jobs growth, which were a full 10,000 jobs lower (based on expectations that global trade tensions might limit jobs growth).

Full-time figures continued to show stability, while part-time employment additions were particularly strong (with massive gains of 50,200 for the month).  Overall, these jobs numbers are well above the historical averages, as the typical monthly employment change in Australia was just 13,900 from 1978 until last year.  This trend shows that recent improvements have been particularly well received by Australia’s employment workforce.

Job Market Expert – Roland Coombes

According to Roland Coombes, job consultancy expert at iTouch Resume Solutions:

“Australia’s labor market has shown incredible resilience in the face of growing economic uncertainty around the world.  While many economic analysts were actually expecting jobs declines over the last few months, the Australian economy has easily managed to beat those deteriorating expectations and exhibit sustained consistency in growth.  Overall, this is an exciting time for Australia’s current job seekers.

Interestingly, there are several economic data reports which support the positive outlook for Australian job seekers.  As a result, it cannot easily be argued that improved jobs gains over the last few months are something of an anomaly. Specifically, the country’s unemployment rate has held steady (near the 5% level) and the number of job vacancies has steadily risen since the beginning of January 2017.  Of course, these are long-term trends and it is unlikely the market will see any changes that are significantly negative before the end of this year.

For job seekers, this is highly encouraging news.  Essentially, the strong labor market suggests that job seekers have an excellent chance to get the jobs they truly want.  Ultimately, it just comes down to the proper presentation and having an excellent resume to show to potential employers. As long as the jobs vacancy figures continue to rise, there is little reason for Australian job seekers to be discouraged in their efforts.

Jobs Business
Australian Jobs Vacancies

Of course, there are still risk factors that could become apparent in the event that there is a slowdown in the global economy.  However, all of this suggests that the current environment marks a great time to take advantage of the country’s stable economic trends and to apply for jobs that might have seemed elusive in the past. Recent jobs vacancy figures show that Australia’s employers are actively looking to hire for many positions.  However, it would appear that these employers are having a hard time filling these positions because not enough people are applying for consideration.

Given the recent trends in Australia’s jobs market, it seems that there hasn’t been a better time in recent memory to update your resume and begin looking for a new career.  It’s hard to argue with the fact that now is a great time to advance your jobs prospects now that Australia has shown its ability to overcome negative expectations for the world economy.  All it takes is the proper presentation and a well-polished resume. Once these key requirements are secured, it seems that the sky’s the limit for job seekers looking to get started on a new career path for the future.

Economic Data Reports Send U.S. Stocks To Sustained Highs

Economic Data Reports Send U.S. Stocks To Sustained Highs

Even with recent declines seen during the summer of 2019, the S&P 500 has managed to post a series of long-term higher highs that have defined an uptrend for the benchmark.

S&P 500
S&P 500

Recent jobs reports in the U.S. have been critical in terms of the implications they hold for the future monetary policy actions at the Federal Reserve.  Stock market valuations will continue to be influenced by interest rate policy changes that are made during the remainder of this year.

Consensus estimates suggest the U.S. economy added an average of roughly 150K jobs for each month of this year (down slightly from the 160K recorded in prior averages).  The national unemployment rate in the U.S. is expected to hold at lower levels, which is a key indicator of economic strength.

On balance, the U.S. is still posting some very strong economic numbers and any positive surprises in the next few jobs reports will likely push the average consensus in analyst surveys closer to the long-term averages.  Current expectations for future rate hikes this calendar year remain questionable. However, all of these data figures will help to clarify some of these issues in the months ahead.

It will also be important to continue watching for developments in the U.S. ISM Services report, which has largely supported the bullish angle over the last year. With the readings that were posted for the last few months. This recent decline from the previous month’s readings may appear ominous but we are still coming off of figures that represent a 12-year high. 

As a result, some declines were reasonably expected in the analyst surveys. Markets have still managed to trade higher after these prior releases on the argument that this long-term strength does bode well for the upcoming nonfarm payrolls figures coming out in the months ahead.

The services sector represents 70% of the US economy and these reports cover businesses like retailers, hospitals, and restaurants. Numbers above 50 signal expansion in the economy, and readings above 55 are considered “exceptional.” We are firmly above those levels, and this helps tip the odds in favor of a bullish data surprise for payrolls reports that follow.

The ISM indexes for new orders have recently seen gains of 64.8 (from 62.7 previously, marking another long-term high). All told, 16 of 17 of the industries that are tracked in the report are showing strong evidence of expansion. This is highly encouraging for the underlying trend in the U.S. economy, as it shows companies are actually having difficulties with skilled labor shortages.

Supply costs have also been seen rising in the recent reports and this brings us back to the potential market disruptions that could be caused by the implementation of a trade war.  As labor costs also move higher, we are looking at a scenario that is essentially ripe for upside inflationary pressure in the U.S. economy.