ANZ job ads fall 3% in April, bank warns old data may be in error: Midday roundup

The number of job advertisements published in both newspapers and the internet declined 3% during April, according to the latest figures from ANZ.

However, ANZ said it’s currently investigating the reliability of data provided by a small website which could have resulted in improved results in overall job advertising.

“As a result, greater caution should be given to the results of the job ads series in recent months,” it said. “This may reflect data error or double counting of jobs already advertised on other larger websites.”

The data may be overstated in the year-on-year growth rates by as much as 5-7 points and it may be revised next month as a result.

This comes after the RBA said in its quarterly statement that the ANZ measure has picked up, but that these leading indicators “have tended to overestimate net employment growth, possibly they do not account for the pick-up in job losses associated with increased structural change in the economy”.

Retail sales, building approvals rise in March

Retail sales rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in March, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data showed retail sales rose 0.9% to $21.23 billion, while the figures also show retail sales rose by 1.8% in the March quarter to $61 billion.

The ABS found building approvals rose in March, up by a seasonally adjusted 7.4% to 11,501 for the month.

The figure is above expectations, with analysts having predicted a 0.4% rise. However, they still remain 15% lower than last year.

Shares fall after Euro elections cause speculation over debt negotiations

The Australian sharemarket has fallen over 1.5% this morning after the results of European elections in Greece and France, with investors worried the new leadership will slow negotiations made on sovereign debt deals.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 72.9 points or 1.7% to 4323.1 at 12.00 AEST.

This comes after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% last week, or 160 points, to 13,038.3.

Aussie dollar falls on back of Reserve Bank cuts and European instability

The Australian dollar has fallen sharply in morning trade following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 50 basis point cut to the cash rate last week.

The dollar continues to head towards parity with the US dollar, after the Australian sharemarket slid heavily following negative leads from Wall St on US jobs data.

This morning, the Australian dollar was trading at $1.0129 US cents, down from an opening price of $1.0154, with European election results over the weekend also weighing on the local sharemarket and currency.

The dollar also fell against the pound to 0.628383.

International Monetary Fund endorses Federal Budget

The International Monetary Fund has given a “ringing endorsement” to Labor’s plan to return to surplus according to Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Swan said the IMF had endorsed the Budget overnight.

“Tuesday night’s budget will show that the Australian economy walks tall in the global economy but support lower and middle income earners at home,” Swan said today.

He labelled it a surplus budget that also was a “fair-go budget”.

IMF chief Asian economist Anoop Singh said a commitment to return the budget to surplus in 2012-13 would help rebuild fiscal buffers against economic shocks.