Market Wrap

Below are some charts regarding Thursdays Australian labour market details and the impact on the Aussie dollar and RBA.

The Australian labour market has been weakening not only from a headline standpoint but compositionally.

Our employment participation rate indicates that people are leaving the workforce while the headline signals slowing job creation.

Growth in full time employment recently turned negative, while part time employment is on the rise

When Australia’s official labour market data was released at 11:30am on the 16th January 2014, the impact on our currency was immediate.

The drop in AUD and rebound in ASX signals increased expectations of an RBA rate cut next month and lower domestic productivity levels.

Indices:

The Australian All Ordinaries Index has moved down decreasing by -0.2% since closing last Friday to 12:30 pm today.

The rest of the world as measured by the MSCI index increased +0.8% in A$ from closing last Friday to end of trade Thursday.

Have a good weekend,

The team at IPS