Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 percent in September, as the job participation hit a record high.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Head of Labour Statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the rate was in line with the revised figure for August.
“With employment rising by around 64,000 people and the number of unemployed falling around 9000, the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent, where it has generally been over the past six months,” Mr Jarvis said.
He said despite the slight fall in the number of unemployed people, the strong rise in employment saw the participation rate rise by 0.1 percent to a record high of 67.2 percent.
“Employment has risen by 3.1 percent in the past year, growing faster than the population growth of 2.5 percent.
“This has contributed to the increase in the employment-to-population ratio by 0.1 percentage point, and 0.4 percentage points over the past year, to a new historical high of 64.4 percent.
“The record employment-to-population ratio and participation rate shows that there are still large numbers of people entering the labour force and finding work in a range of industries, as job vacancies continue to remain above pre-pandemic levels.”
Mr Jarvis said while the number of unemployed people fell slightly to 616,000 in September, overall the number of unemployed people had risen by around 90,000 people since September 2023.
“Despite this rise over the last year, there are still around 93,000 fewer unemployed people than there were just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the unemployment rate was at 5.2 percent,” Mr Jarvis said.
Explore the full data set: Labour Force, Australia. September 2024.
