ONLY CHARTS

Edition #44

1. SEEK’s new job ads series for Australia declined further in February, including relative to the number of unemployed.

2. Relative to pre-COVID levels, new job ads have weakened the most in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

3. The ratio of job applicants to job ads on SEEK in Australia also continued to shoot higher in January (these data are lagged a month).

4. By region, the job-applicant-to-ads ratio is showing similar trends to job ads.

5. Australia’s goods trade surplus widened in January to ~$11b.

6. The value of Australia’s exports in January was boosted by higher non-monetary gold exports.

7. Nominal imports to Australia in January rose, with consumption goods imports rising again after falling sharply in November. Some of that monthly volatility has been induced by bumpy motor vehicle imports.

8. New housing loan commitments in Australia in January were weak across the board. The ABS hinted that some of the recent weakness could reflect changing seasonal patterns:

“Liaison with lenders suggests that recent improvements to loan processing times increased the number of loans processed in peak periods this year, relative to prior years”.

9. Nevertheless, the trend slowing in monthly growth in housing loan commitments in Australia is consistent with less robust housing price growth

10. Average interest rates on new housing loans…

…compared with average interest rates on outstanding housing loans

11. The share of private-sector workers in the US quitting their job remained below 2019 rates and points to a further easing in wages growth.

12. Canada published Q4 labour productivity and unit labour cost figures overnight. Looking similar to Australia vis-a-vis pre-COVID levels.