Job advertisements fall 1.7% during October, Shares rise on AXA takeover: Economy Roundup

The number of job advertisements published in October fell by 1.7%, according to the latest ANZ job advertisements survey, erasing gains made during September.

The total number of advertisements fell to a weekly average of just 133,709, with newspaper ads falling 1.4% and internet ads falling 1.8%, following a rise of 4.4% during September.

ANZ said in a statement that total job ads, which are still 6.8% higher than during their low point in July, have already reached their bottom and are now trending upwards. However, the number of job ads remains 44.9% lower than this time last year.

ANZ acting chief economist Warren Hogan said in a statement that although the economy is recovering, it is still vulnerable to backwards activity.

“In the near-term, we do not expect to see much improvement in the official labour market statistics,” Hogan said.

“Trends in job advertising tend to lead actual employment outcomes by around six to nine months. As such, we expect broadly flat employment growth over the course of the summer with a further small increase in the national unemployment rate to just above 6.5% in mid-2010.”

Hogan also said ANZ expects the unemployment rate to rise by 0.1% to 5.8% when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its October labour force data on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has recorded cash earnings of 1.4% billion for the first quarter of the 2010 financial year, with chief executive Ralph Norris saying the bank has reached the top of its bad debt cycle.

Norris noted that impairments totalled $700 million during the three months to 30 September, with total impaired assets rising to 88 basis points of gross loans.

“While the economic outlook has improved since our results in August, the pace and extent of the recovery remains unclear,” Norris said in a statement.

“The operating environment remains a challenging one. Average funding costs are increasing, credit growth has slowed and competition remains strong. A number of our customers will continue to face financial hardship that will require our ongoing assistance and support.”

But Norris said the company’s balance sheet and fiscal outlook remains “very strong”.

Sharemarket up after AXA shares rise 30%

AXA Asia Pacific shares have increased by a massive 30% to $5.62 after the company rejected an $11.2 billion break-up plan that would have seen its Australian assets given to AMP.

Chairman Rick Allert said the proposal “significantly undervalued” the company.

“The proposal has been received against the backdrop of recent weakness in global financial markets and before the growth of our Asian operations is fully reflected in our profitability,” he said in a statement this morning.
The Australian sharemarket has opened higher today, following a relatively positive week from Wall Street, but commodity prices have continued to fall.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 74.5 points or 1.62% to 4668.5 at 12.00 AEST. The Australian dollar also broke through the US92c barrier once again this year, after slight falls over the past fortnight.

Commonwealth Bank shares rose 3.5%, while NAB shares have also increased 1.8% to $29.26. ANZ gained 1.6% to $22.76, with Westpac losing 1.4% to $26.17.

Paint and chemicals manufacturer Orica is now expecting growth during 2010 after recording an increase in annual net profit of 0.5% to $541.8 million.

“In light of the shape of the economic decline experienced in 2009, we anticipate first half conditions to be more difficult than those of the previous corresponding period.”

“Subject to the rate of global economic recovery and the extent of further adverse movements in exchange rates, we expect group net profit after tax (pre individually material items) in 2010 to be higher than that reported in 2009,” the company said.

Xenophon backs telco reform bill

Meanwhile, independent senator Nick Xenophon will now back the Federal Government’s telecommunications reform legislation that will see telco giant Telstra separate its wholesale and retail divisions.

“It’s going to be a hell of a two weeks given the amount of legislation the Government wants to get through,” Xenophon told Sky News.

“I think there ought to be structural separation (of Telstra) so long as there are adequate conditions and safeguards in place so that the bush gets a fair go and consumers get the best possible deal in terms of a new competitive framework,” he said.

Overseas, investors are nervous about Wall Street’s performance pending the release of results from major retailers, including Wall-Mart, after the country’s unemployment rate has jumped over 10%.