Australian Leading Employment Indicator Rises In November

CANBERRA -- Australia's Department of Employment said Wednesday its leading indicator of employment has risen to a negative 0.841 in November from a revised negative 0.988 in October.

The indicator has now risen for five straight months, tentatively foreshadowing a quickening in the pace of employment growth to above its long-term trend rate of 1.8% a year, the department reported.

However, it will take another consecutive monthly increase for the indicator for a turning point to be confirmed.

The indicator measures four weighted time-series variables: ANZ newspaper job ads, Dun & Bradstreet employment expectations, the Westpac-Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity survey, and the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will issue October employment data Thursday.