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☆ Israel's jobless rate spikes to 9.6% in Oct due to Hamas war
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Israel's jobless rate surged to near 10% in October, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, after the outbreak of war with Palestinian Hamas militants led to tens of thousands of displaced citizens who had lived near the Gaza border. The main unemployment rate held steady at 3.4% last month. But when taking into account what is expected to be a temporary loss of work, the rate reached 9.6% in October as 428,400 people were jobless versus 163,600 in September, prior to the Oct. 7 attack when Hamas gunmen rampaged though Israeli border towns. In the wake of the attack, nearly 400,000 Israelis were called up to reserve duty, and official data show that about 80,000 Israelis were placed on unpaid leave in the last few weeks. Israel's low jobless rate had underpinned economic growth, but with so many people furloughed or out of a job, the economy is expected to contract in the fourth quarter and grow a less than expected 2.3% in 2023.

Persons: rampaged, Steven Scheer, William Maclean Organizations: Central Bureau, Statistics, Gaza, Thomson Locations: Gaza

The figure represented a slight slowdown in regular pay growth from 7.9% in the previous two ONS reports, the highest since the data collection began in 2001. "The labour market remains very tight and businesses are still struggling to hire the people they need," Alexandra Hall-Chen, a policy advisor at the Institute of Directors, said. Including bonuses, which are typically volatile, pay growth slowed to 7.9% from 8.2% in the three months to August. "While there is some uncertainty around the accuracy of this data release, other indicators also suggest the labour market is gradually cooling, not collapsing," Jake Finney, an economist at PwC UK, said. Hunt said his Nov. 22 update on the budget and economic count would include "plans to get people back into work and deliver growth for the UK."

Persons: Big Ben, Toby Melville, Alexandra Hall, Chen, BoE, Sterling, Jake Finney, Jeremy Hunt, Hunt, William Schomberg, Sachin Ravikumar, Kylie MacLellan, David Milliken, Ed Osmond Organizations: REUTERS, LONDON, of, Office, National Statistics, Reuters, Institute of Directors, U.S, ONS, Labour Force Survey, PwC, Thomson Locations: London, Britain

The BoE is monitoring the labour market closely as it considers whether it needs to resume raising interest rates, having kept them on hold in September after 14 hikes in a row. Under the previous methodology, the unemployment rate had been reported as 4.3% for the three months to July rather than 4.2%. Still, the new data showed more slack in the labour market than the BoE had predicted in August, when it forecast an unemployment rate of 4.1% for the third quarter as a whole. "It is probably only a matter of time before the recent loosening of the labour market feeds through into significantly slower wage growth," Pugh said. The latest ONS estimate showed employment fell by 133,000 in the three months to July, compared with 207,000 in its previous estimate.

Persons: BoE, Thomas Pugh, Pugh, Tony Wilson, Andy Bruce, William Schomberg, Paul Sandle, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Office, National Statistics, Bank of England, Labour Force Survey, RSM, ONS, Financial, Institute for Employment Studies, Thomson

☆ Australian jobs surge as productivity debate heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Headline indicators report a very strong employment report, but the bias towards predominantly part-time employment should temper exuberance," said Dwyfor Evans, head of APAC macro strategy at State Street Global Markets. Markets maintained bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would keep rates steady next month, with an about 40% chance of one final hike early next year. WAGES, PRODUCTIVITYThe strong figures showed Australia's jobs market is still extremely tight more than and a year-and-a-half after the economy shook off its COVID-era border restrictions. loadingTreasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday welcomed the strong jobs report, but warned that the labour market could slow from here, a consensus view among economists. Adam Boyton, head of Australian research at ANZ, is already seeing signs of slackening in the labour market, with underemployment rate creeping up and hours worked falling.

Persons: Barista Claudio Chimisso, Loren Elliott, Dwyfor Evans, Tim Gurner, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Adam Boyton, Boyton, Stella Qiu, Kim Coghill, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Australian Bureau, Statistics, Street Global, Reserve Bank, Australian, Reserve Bank of Australia, ANZ, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, China

Construction workers take a nap in front of a wall of a construction site during their lunch break in Beijing, China, May 5, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon /File PhotoAug 15 (Reuters) - China suspended publication of its youth jobless data on Tuesday, saying it needed to review the methodology behind the closely watched benchmark, which has hit record highs in one of many warning signs for the world's second-largest economy. Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said the release of data would be suspended while authorities look to "optimise" collection methods. "The declining availability of macro data may further weaken global investors' confidence in China," said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, adding that youth unemployment was expected to have risen in July. The most recent NBS data on youth unemployment, published last month, showed the jobless rate jumping to a record high of 21.3% in June.

Persons: Kim Kyung, Fu Linghui, Fu, Ting Lu, Tuesday's, Laurie Chen, Albee Zhang, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Sam Holmes, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, National Bureau of Statistics, Nomura, China News Service, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Weibo

The economy shed a net 17,300 jobs in May, entirely in full-time work, while the jobless rate inched up to 5.2%, Statistics Canada said. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a net gain of 23,200 jobs and for the unemployment rate to edge up to 5.1% in May after staying at 5.0% since December. A series of surprisingly strong economic data and stubbornly high inflation led the Bank of Canada to raise its overnight rate to a 22-year high of 4.75% on Wednesday. "While this is an ugly set of jobs data, the labour force survey is notoriously volatile," said Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins Group. Reports on jobs, inflation and gross domestic product are due out ahead of the next policy announcement on July 12.

Persons: Andrew Grantham, Paul Beaudry, Beaudry, Royce Mendes, Ismail Shakil, Steve Scherer, Fergal Smith, Dale Smith, Susan Fenton, Nick Macfie, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: OTTAWA, Statistics, Reuters, Bank of Canada, Bank of, CIBC Capital Markets, Desjardins Group, Canadian, Thomson Locations: Canada, Statistics Canada, Bank of Canada, Ottawa, Toronto

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