Australia just posted a huge jobs report, with 37,700 jobs added for the month of March.
It’s a huge beat on expectations of 15,000 new jobs expected by the market. The numbers are strong across the board, with the participation rate rising to 64.8% from 64.7% and hours worked also rising.
The Aussie dollar has rallied on the news, rising around 1.2% against the USD.
The unemployment rate fell to 6.1%, when it was expected to remain steady at 6.3%.
The total number of employed Australians is at a new all-time record of 11,720,294.
With the federal budget now only four weeks away, the job creation will
Most of the decline in unemployment was due to jobs growth in NSW, Australia’s most populous state, where the unemployment fell from 6.2% to 6.0%.
Victoria was the only state to record an increase in unemployment, rising from 6.0% to 6.2%.
Westpac’s Sean Callow noted the market has already reduced its expectations for a cut to the official interest rate next month.
Pricing for RBA cut in May drops from 70% chance to 60% after encouraging Mar jobs data. Details support positive headlines
— Sean Callow (@seandcallow) April 16, 2015
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