📝Expect Australia Labour Market to Soften Into H2: Westpac

Total employment gained 53.0k or 0.4% in March following on from a 63.6k gain in February, shifting the three-month average change in employment from 13.3k/mth up to 35.4k/mth. The size of the lift in employment was also enough to lift the employment-to-population ratio to 64.4%, only 0.1ppt shy of the record high that was reached back in November 2022.

While the participation rate held flat at one decimal place (66.7%), it rose 0.9ppt at two decimal places, from 66.65% in February to 66.74% in March, just below November’s historic high of 66.8%.

Overall, the March report presented a sound update on the labour market. Businesses’ appetite for new workers remains robust, in line with the growth in labour supply, but we continue to expect labour market outcomes will soften more clearly into the second half of this year.

- Westpac