just yesterday, australia govt just enforced a $21per week wage
increase across the country for the low income earners and tax
relief to help ease the strain that they are facing on the rising
cost of living.
so when i read this sharmudamngan's announcement, what a stark
contrast!
where's the pap run dogs? lionnnoisy and d-ddy, please post your
latest spin here!!
Australia Adds Three Times as Many Jobs as
Expected (Update2)
By Victoria Batchelor
July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Australia added three times as many
jobs as economists
forecast in June as mining companies, led by BHP Billiton Ltd. and
Rio Tinto Group, expanded to meet Chinese demand for
commodities.
Employers hired 29,800 workers following May's 25,600 decline
that ended a record 18 months of job gains, the statistics bureau
said in Sydney today. The
jobless rate fell
to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent.
The local currency rose on optimism the nation will weather a
global slump that has sent New Zealand and the U.K. to the brink of
recession. Record exports are underpinning Australia's economy as
consumers cut spending in the face of the highest interest rates in
12 years and rising fuel prices.
``This is a clear sign the economy still has life in it, buoyed
by a resources boom,'' said
Sally Auld, co-head of
economics at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in
Sydney. ``If it wasn't for
mining, Australia's economy could be in as bad shape as New Zealand
and the U.K.''
The Australian dollar climbed to 96.92 U.S. cents at 1:07 p.m.
in Sydney from 95.55 cents before the report was released. The
two-year government bond yield fell to 6.65 percent from 6.69
percent yesterday.
The median
estimate of 25
economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 10,000 jobs
increase in June.
The number of full-time positions increased 24,000 and part-time
jobs rose 5,800. About half of the nation's 21 million people are
employed.
IMF Report
The International Monetary Fund said today the strength of the
mining industry will add to pressure on consumer prices. The fund
said the central bank should be prepared to raise interest rates
``quickly'' if domestic demand doesn't slow enough.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its
benchmark rate to
7.25 percent in March, the fourth increase since August 2007.
Eighteen of 25 economists surveyed on June 30 said the bank will
keep borrowing costs unchanged this year as economic growth cools
and helps damp the fastest inflation since 1991.
``Today's firm employment report underlines it's premature to be
talking about interest-rate cuts, but it doesn't build the case for
another increase,'' said
Matthew Johnson, senior
economist at ICAP Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``The economy is
slowing, so I suspect we'll see soft employment numbers over coming
months.''
Reports yesterday showed
consumer confidence
slumped in July to the lowest level since 1992 and home-loan
approvals fell by the most in eight years in May. Those figures
sent the Australian dollar to the lowest level in almost three
weeks.
Rate Expectations
Traders have assigned 24 percent odds on the Reserve Bank
raising its benchmark rate by a quarter point in the next 12
months, according to a Credit Suisse Group index based on trading
in interest-rate swaps. The probabilities were 28 percent yesterday
and 72 percent a week ago.
Prior to the May jobs decline, employers had added extra
workers every month
from October 2006, the longest run of gains since the government
began publishing monthly figures in 1978. The nation's
jobless rate fell
to 4 percent in February, the lowest in more than three
decades.
Australia, the world's largest shipper of coal, iron ore and
wool, may earn 12 percent more this financial year from commodity
exports than forecast three months earlier because of higher
prices, the government said on June 23.
BHP
Billiton, the world's largest mining company,
approved a $1.9 billion expansion in May of its Worsley alumina
project in Western Australia. Rio Tinto plans to boost output by 26
percent at its Queensland Alumina Ltd. refinery.
Job Cuts
Some companies are shedding workers to cut expenses.
Insurance Australia, an auto and home insurer, announced
yesterday it would cut 600 jobs to help lower annual costs by A$130
million. The Sydney-based company also said
it will report the first loss in six years and sell businesses in
the U.K.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the U.S.-based tire maker, said
last month it will close a Melbourne factory and fire 600
workers.
The participation rate, which measures the labor force as a
percentage of the population aged over 15, rose to 65.3 percent in
June from 65.2 percent in May, today's report showed.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Victoria Batchelor in Sydney at
[email protected].
Last Updated: July 9, 2008 23:29 EDT
