Why is unemployment rising again?

Via Westpac:

•Employment rose 22.6k in April beating both market (20k) and Westpac’s (17k) expectations. Full-time employment rose by 32.7k while part-time fell 10.0k. Past employment results were revised with March now –0.7k (was +4.9k) and February is now –7.4k (was reported as –6.3k last month and originally reported as +17.5k). This trend for downward revisions is consistent with a soft patch in the labour market.

•Despite a sound print on employment in April the unemployment rose to 5.6%, (5.60% at two decimal places) a full percentage point on 5.5% in March (5.53% at two decimal places). This jump was due to a 33.2k lift in the labour force with participation bouncing to 65.61%.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.