An indicator of employment in Australia declined for the fourth consecutive month in April, data from a survey by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) showed Wednesday.
The leading indicator of employment dropped by 0.167 point month-on-month in April, after falling 0.135 point in March. The latest decline was the fourth in a row. All of the indicator's four components showed deterioration during the month.
The Dun and Bradstreet employment expectations sub-index dropped by 0.128 point, while the Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity decreased by 0.0.13 point. The sub-indicator that gauges ANZ newspaper job ads declined 0.013 point, and the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index declined 0.012 point.
It is still too early to confirm that a slowing in employment growth is in prospect, because the Indicator has fallen for fewer than six months. In comparison, cyclical employment has fallen for fourteenconsecutive months, the agency said.
The leading indicator is designed to give advance warning of turning points in cyclical employment, which is measured as the deviation of the one-year trend in employment from the six-year trend.
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