Employment - Part Time Dries Up

Last month I pointed out that "at some point the move to part time employment won't be an option and the headline figure will start to creep up". The figures released yesterday show that this turning point may be upon us now. While there were 21,900 full time jobs lost, for the first time this was not offset by a similar rise in part time. This increased by only 400. The next two months will indicate whether this trend continues. If it does, expect the recent positive confidence figures to turn around. We've also seen the longer yields move down, as predicted, over the last couple of weeks - expect this also to continue.

It's also worth noting that May's figures were revised with the number of full time jobs lost rising from 26,200 to 32,900.

Employment and inflation are the two key factors to watch with respect to the RBA's cash level. I anticipate that both will provide the RBA with room for another easing before this cycle turns.