Data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the unemployment rate rose in November by 0.1%, to 3.9%. The October figure was revised upward to 3.8% from 3.7%. Economists had expected unemployment to remain at 3.8%. The number of unemployed individuals rose by 18.8 thousand, to 572 thousand, while the number of people looking for full-time work rose by 10.6 thousand, to 383.6 thousand, and the number of those looking for part-time work increased by 8.1 thousand, to 188.3 thousand.
Meanwhile, the number of employed increased by 61.5 thousand, accelerating compared to October (+42.7 thousand, revised from +55 thousand), and exceeding economists' forecasts (+11 thousand). Part-time employment increased by 4.5 thousand, to 4.35 million, while full-time employment jumped by 55 thousand, to 9.91 million. The participation rate improved to 67.2% (a record high), beating expectations for 66.9% and up from 67.0% in October.
Overall, the latest data pointed to the amazing ability of the economy to withstand a 4.25% increase in RBA interest rates from May 2022. However, they contradict a business survey conducted earlier this week, which showed that confidence has fallen to an 11-year low, and forward-looking indicators have also declined. Against this backdrop, today's data is likely to surprise the RBA and encourage it to continue its trend towards tightening monetary policy. The data also provided significant support to the Australian dollar - AUDUSD increased by 0.9%, 0.6718.