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Justin Smirk

Justin has 17 years’ experience in Financial Markets. He joined Westpac in 1999 following his early training at the Reserve Bank of Australia. He has spent time in Westpac’s London office and has had a secondment as Chief Economist at St George Bank. Justin’s areas of interest are the international economy, commodity markets and the resources sector. He also analyses the Australia labour market and prices.

Articles

Article title More job vacancies = higher wages? Not necessarily

Article descriptionThere’s been an unprecedented surge in job vacancies this year, up 41 per cent, but it’s more about labour shortages than excess demand, meaning firms have a reduced incentive to bid up wages.

By AuthorJustin Smirk
Senior Economist, Westpac
4 min read

Article title Jobs market’s ‘V’ recovery a win, but a lot at play underneath

Article descriptionThe good news about the labour market is that we’ve all but recovered the jobs lost due to COVID, but the data reveals several quirks in the recovery impacting people in different ways.

By AuthorJustin Smirk
Senior Economist, Westpac
4 min read

Article title Commodities, bifurcation and a bit of luck

Article descriptionAs we head into another federal budget and look to economic recovery, our mineral resources are once again supporting the “lucky country” moniker. But it’s shaping as a different mining boom to ones in the past.

By AuthorJustin Smirk
Senior Economist, Westpac
4 min read

Article title Why JobKeeper is working but recovery is waning

Article descriptionAhead of the government’s highly anticipated economic update this week, it’s clear the boost to incomes from JobKeeper is over and it’s back to fundamentals for the labour market.

By AuthorJustin Smirk
Senior Economist, Westpac
4 min read

Article title Where jobs are being created – and culled

Article descriptionWith the “tension” between strong jobs growth but GDP data weak increasingly important, exploring industries within the labour market is key to solving the puzzle.

By AuthorJustin Smirk
Senior Economist, Westpac
4 min read

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