The November Labour Force Survey surprised to the upside, rising 37.2k from revised –24.8k in October (originally –19.0k). The market median forecast was for 15k (an around trend estimate), Westpac was looking for a modest 8k rise and the range of estimates was a wide –10k to +40k. The gain in November resulted in a flat annual pace of 2.0%yr but we also note that the six month annualised pace was also flat but at a slower 1.6%yr. As such looking through the monthly volatility in the last three months the average monthly gain was just 9.5k compared to 8.9k in October and a recent peak of 31.2k in May. This recent ... (full story)