Australian labour market – recovery continues after Victorian lockdown eases

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics – Labour Force, Australia, November 2020 – released today (December 17, 2020), shows that the labour market has improved largely due to the recent easing of the lockdowns in Victoria after its devastating second virus wave. Employment increased by 0.7 per cent (90,000) in the month (which is a fairly strong result) and outstripped the growth in the labour force (0.5 per cent), which means that unemployment fell (0.1 points) or 17.3. Underemployment also fell by 1 point and the broad labour underutilisation rate (sum of unemployment and underemployment) fell by 1.2 points. But the recovery is still too slow and more government support by way of large-scale job creation is required given total employment is still 233 thousand below the level in March 2020 and unemployment is 245 thousand higher.

The summary ABS Labour Force (seasonally adjusted) estimates for November 2020 are:

  • Employment increased 90,000 (0.7 per cent) – Full-time employment increased by 84,200 and part-time employment increased 5,800.
  • Unemployment decreased 17,300 to 942,100 persons.
  • The official unemployment rate decreased 0.2 points to 6.8 per cent.
  • The participation rate increased by 0.3 points to 66.1 per cent.
  • Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 43 million hours (2.5 per cent).
  • Underemployment decreased by 1 point to 9.4 per cent (decline of 129.9 thousand). Overall there are 1,293.9 thousand underemployed workers. The total labour underutilisation rate (unemployment plus underemployment) decreased by 1.2 points to 16.4 per cent. There were a total of 2,235.9 thousand workers either unemployed or underemployed.

Employment increased strongly again in November 2020

1. Employment growth was 0.7 per cent (half the rate of last month’s growth but still strong).

Since March it has now fallen by 137.7 thousand (-1.1 per cent).

2. Full-time employment increased by 84,200 and part-time employment increased 5,800.

The following graph shows the month by month growth in full-time (blue columns), part-time (grey columns) and total employment (green line) for the 24 months to November 2020 using seasonally adjusted data.

The following table provides an accounting summary of the labour market performance over the last six months to provide a longer perspective that cuts through the monthly variability and provides a better assessment of the trends.

Assessment:

1. Total employment has risen by 734.4 thousand but 73.9 per cent of that increase has been in part-time work. This is quite a significant result.

2. Full-time employment is still below the March level by 148.1 thousand although in the last 6 months there has been growth.

Given the variation in the labour force estimates, it is sometimes useful to examine the Employment-to-Population ratio (%) because the underlying population estimates (denominator) are less cyclical and subject to variation than the labour force estimates. This is an alternative measure of the robustness of activity to the unemployment rate, which is sensitive to those labour force swings.

The following graph shows the Employment-to-Population ratio, since June 2008 (the low-point unemployment rate of the last cycle).

It fell with the onset of the GFC, recovered under the boost provided by the fiscal stimulus packages but then went backwards again as the Federal government imposed fiscal austerity in a hare-brained attempt at achieving a fiscal surplus in 2012.

The ratio rose by 0.4 points in November 2020 to 61.6 per cent on the back of strong employment growth. The ratio is now 1.3 points below pre-GFC peak in April 2008 of 62.9 per cent.

To put the current monthly performance into perspective, the following graph shows the average monthly employment change for the calendar years from 1980 to 2020 (to date).

1. The labour market weakened considerably over 2018 and that situation worsened in 2019.

2. The average employment change so far in 2020 is -10.4 thousand.

3. What I noticed when compiling the data today was how the scales are returning to the data. The early pandemic results made the past history look flat. But now some perspective is returning.

The following graph shows the average monthly changes in Full-time and Part-time employment (lower panel) in thousands since 1980.

The interesting result is that during recessions or slow-downs, it is full-time employment that takes the bulk of the adjustment. Even when full-time employment growth is negative, part-time employment usually continues to grow.

However, this crisis is different because much of the employment losses are the result of lockdowns and enforced business closures in sectors where part-time employment dominates.

But the slow recovery of full-time employment signals that the demand-side impacts from the lockdown have had wider effects.

Impact of Stage 4 lockdown in Victoria

The following graph shows the impact on employment in Victoria as the State 4 restrictions took hold.

Clearly the lockdown has been damaging to employment in Victoria, which is no surprise.

With the lockdown over, the November employment level is now above the level in April 2020 and 2.1 points below the March peak. So a very good recovery in that state.

Unemployment decreased 17,300 to 942,100 persons or 6.8 per cent

The official unemployment rate fell 0.2 points to 6.8 per cent as the rise in employment (90 thousand) outstripped the growth in the labour force (72.7) even with participation rising by 0.3 points.

The following graph shows the national unemployment rate from January 1980 to November 2020. The longer time-series helps frame some perspective to what is happening at present.

Assessment:

1. There is clearly still considerable slack in the labour market that could be absorbed with further fiscal stimulus.

Broad labour underutilisation decreased by 1.2 points to 16.2 per cent in November 2020

The results for November 2020 are (seasonally adjusted):

1. Underemployment fell by 129.9 thousand.

2. The underemployment rate fell by 1 point to 9.4 per cent.

2. Overall there are 1,293.9 thousand underemployed workers.

3. The total labour underutilisation rate (unemployment plus underemployment) decreased by 1.2 points to 16.4 per cent.

4. There were a total of 2,235.9 thousand workers either unemployed or underemployed.

The following graph plots the seasonally-adjusted underemployment rate in Australia from January 1980 to the November 2020 (blue line) and the broad underutilisation rate over the same period (green line).

The difference between the two lines is the unemployment rate.

The three cyclical peaks correspond to the 1982, 1991 recessions and the more recent downturn.

The other difference between now and the two earlier cycles is that the recovery triggered by the fiscal stimulus in 2008-09 did not persist and as soon as the ‘fiscal surplus’ fetish kicked in in 2012, things went backwards very quickly.

The two earlier peaks were sharp but steadily declined. The last peak fell away on the back of the stimulus but turned again when the stimulus was withdrawn.

With the participation rising this month, hidden unemployment has fallen (as the participation rate is now closer to its past peak). Please read my blog post – Australian labour underutilisation rate is at least 13.4 per cent – for more discussion on this point.

Unemployment and broad labour underutilisation indexes – last four downturns

The following graph captures the evolution of the unemployment rates for the 1982, 1991, GFC and COVID-19 downturns.

For each episode, the graph begins at 100 – which is the index value of the unemployment rate at the low-point of each cycle (June 1981; December 1989; February 2008, and January 2020, respectively).

We then plot each episode out for 90 months.

For 1991, the peak unemployment which was achieved some 38 months after the downturn began and the resulting recovery was painfully slow. While the 1982 recession was severe the economy and the labour market was recovering by the 26th month. The pace of recovery for the 1982 once it began was faster than the recovery in the current period.

During the GFC crisis, the unemployment rate peaked after 16 months (thanks to a substantial fiscal stimulus) but then started rising again once the stimulus was prematurely withdrawn and a new peak occurred at the 80th month.

The COVID-19 downturn, while in its early months, is obviously worse than any of the previous recessions shown.

The graph provides a graphical depiction of the speed at which each recession unfolded (which tells you something about each episode) and the length of time that the labour market deteriorated (expressed in terms of the unemployment rate).

After ten months, the unemployment had risen from 100 to:

1. 117.7 index points in 1982 and rising.

2. 126.1 index points in 1991 and rising.

3. 112.1 index points in the GFC and rising.

4. 134.4 index points currently and falling.

Note that these are index numbers and only tell us about the speed of decay rather than levels of unemployment.

The next graph performs the same operation for the broad labour underutilisation rate (sum of official unemployment and underemployment).

Hours worked increased 42.8 million hours (2.5 per cent) in November 2020

As the lockdown eases, hours worked are returning.

The following graph shows the monthly growth (in per cent) over the last 24 months.

The dark linear line is a simple regression trend of the monthly change – which depicts a flat trend. Even before the coronavirus crisis struck, the trend was flat or mildly downwards.

Teenage labour market improves in November 2020

1. Total teenage net employment rose by 16.5 thousand in November 2020 (2.5 per cent).

2. Full-time teenage employment rose by 10 thousand (7.4 per cent) and part-time employment rose by 6.4 thousand (1.2 per cent). The strong full-time employment growth is a very good sign.

3. The teenage unemployment rate rose by 1 point to 20.5 per cent because the employment growth was swamped by the increase in participation (2.2 points). These aggregates are volatile.

The following Table shows the distribution of net employment creation in the last month and the last 12 months by full-time/part-time status and age/gender category (15-19 year olds and the rest).

To put the teenage employment situation in a scale context (relative to their size in the population) the following graph shows the Employment-Population ratios for males, females and total 15-19 year olds since June 2008.

You can interpret this graph as depicting the loss of employment relative to the underlying population of each cohort. We would expect (at least) that this ratio should be constant if not rising somewhat (depending on school participation rates).

The absolute loss of jobs reported above has impacted more on females than males.

1. The male ratio has fallen by 10.4 percentage points since February 2008 and 1.6 points since March 2020.

2. The female ratio has fallen by 3.5 percentage points but has risen by 0.3 points since March 2020.

3. The overall teenage employment-population ratio has fallen by 7 percentage points and 0.7 points since March 2020.

Conclusion

My standard monthly warning: we always have to be careful interpreting month to month movements given the way the Labour Force Survey is constructed and implemented.

The November 2020 data reveals that the Australian labour market is recovering fairly quickly after the Victorian lockdown ended and people were able to get back to work.

My overall assessment is:

1. While Victoria bounced back strongly, Queensland and the NT experienced employment losses in November 2020.

2. Employment increased by 0.7 per cent in the month (which is a fairly strong result) and outstripped the growth in the labour force (0.5 per cent), which means that unemployment fell (0.1 points).

3. It is always a good sign when there is both employment and labour force growth with the former stronger than the latter.

3. Underemployment also fell by 1 point and the broad labour underutilisation rate (sum of unemployment and underemployment) fell by 1.2 points.

4. The recovery is speeding up and is taking quite a different pattern (at a similar stage) of the last three recessions. It is still too slow and more government support by way of large-scale job creation is required given total employment is still 137.7 thousand below the level in March 2020 and unemployment is 100 thousand higher.

That is enough for today!

(c) Copyright 2020 William Mitchell. All Rights Reserved

This Post Has One Comment

  1. If and when we have federal governments that work for the people we can then have full employment at zero financial cost. As we instead have federal governments that work for the oligarchy we can at best expect a fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic that protects the oligarchy and the markets which necessitates some support for the wage earning underclass.

    This is socialism for the rich and deliberate and sociopathic imposition of unemployment, underemployment and desperate poverty for about 20% of the population that wants to work as well as a precarious existence for at least another 20%.

    China’s oligarchs are better economic managers than our oligarchs. They know about nation building and they utilise their full fiscal capacity to ensure close to full employment. Even their investments in clean energy dwarf that of all other nations but their net zero emissions target of 2060 ignores the hard reality of global warming science. Neoliberalism driven primarily by the banking class or the FIRE sector is the West’s cancer that has more than anything enabled the East to overtake the West.

    Morrison and Frydenberg are now so smug and so proud of themselves even though the main economic factor enabling the economic rebound was the effective elimination of Covid-19 in Australia which was implemented by the states often in opposition to the federal government. Soon the sheep will again believe the MSM lies about the huge federal government debt burden and will DEMAND fiscal austerity totally unaware that they are calling for their own economic decline, even higher unemployment, even worse government services and increased wealth disparity – unless the truth can win against the MSM lies.

    Labor and the Greens both still fail to make the break from Keynesian balancing the budget over the economic cycle nonsense and are still on track to more or less follow the neoliberal Pied Pipers from hell.

    Meanwhile Dr James Hansen defined the trajectory we must follow to avoid catastrophic global warming which in its most current form is 6% p.a. global reductions in GHG emissions starting in 2020 combined with concurrent extraction of 153PgC from the atmosphere which corresponds to about 75ppm of atmospheric CO2 so as to minimise the global average surface temperature overshoot above the deemed stable Holocene epoch temperature band and to stabilise at no higher than 350ppm atmospheric CO2 by 2100. Not one national government is anywhere near to meeting their proportionate share of staying under that trajectory.

    We are all still following the environmental Pied Pipers from hell.

    We know the solutions, financing is not the problem and the cost of the current path of general inaction is far, far higher.

    A few more years or bring the whole system down.

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