"Australia jobless rate hits near four-year low, wages still lag"

That is Reuters headline of their report on the labour market data. Pithy and accurate!

But ... more:

  • Australian employment rose for a 13th straight month in October
  • longest stretch of gains since the early 1990s
  • jobless rate dipped to its lowest since early 2013
  • detail was also upbeat with full-time jobs climbing 24,300, bringing gains for the year to a blistering 298,000
  • Yet while firms might be scooping up workers they are not so keen to pay them more, leaving wage growth near record lows and putting an unwelcome cap on consumer spending and inflation
  • "Despite strong jobs growth, there is still plenty of slack in the labour market," said CBA senior economist John Peters. "This slack will need to be substantially reduced before wage pressures crank up," he added. "In this environment, talk of rate hikes over the next year is unrealistic."