* February jobs will rise to around 89K VS + 30K consensus
* Unemployment slips to consensus 5.8% VS 6.3%
* All February job gains driven by full-time employment
* The labor market was expected to tighten further – economist (Add bullets, market response in paragraph 4, labor force details in para 5-8, economist opinion in para 9-10)
SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) – Australia’s earnings exceeded all expectations for the fifth consecutive month in February as the unemployment rate fell far more than expected, in another sign the country ‘s economy is moving in the right direction.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday showed net earnings rose to 88,700 in February, as well as a gain of around 29,000 in January. Analysts had predicted a 30,000 increase forecast.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8%, from 6.4%, far better than the market forecast of 6.3% and down from a peak of 7.5% in July.
The stellar figures sent the Australian dollar a two-week high of $ 0.7835. Three-year bond times fell 2 kicks to 99.725, resulting in a 0.275% yield.
The monthly labor force series has become very important for traders as the country’s central bank has pledged to keep rates at a minimum of 0.1% so that the labor market is tight enough to generate inflation .
Data on Thursday showed that employment has now risen to over 13 million people, 4,000 higher than in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to close shutters.
All gains in February were driven by full-time employment with women accounting for more than three-quarters of the increase, the figures showed.
Hours worked increased across all states and regions, with the exception of Western Australia, which entered a short-term coronavirus outbreak in the first week of February.
“The rise in employment in February is consistent with our view that the Australian labor market is tightening much faster than most expected,” said Ben Udy, an economist at Capital Economics.
“In fact, we expect employment to continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace than in February, which will further reduce the unemployment rate in the coming months.” (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Sam Holmes)