Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady in April at 4.1% as 89,000 people found work, which represents stronger jobs growth than had been forecasted.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) labour force data shows April’s unemployment rate was at the same level as in March, in seasonally adjusted terms.
Employment has grown by 390,000 people, or 2.7% per cent, over the year. This annual growth rate is higher than the population growth rate for people aged 15 years and over, which was 2.1% over the same period.
ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick says with employment increasing by 89,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 6,000 people, the unemployment remained steady although there was a rise in female employment.
“The rise in employment was larger for females, up 65,000 (0.9%), while male employment was up 24,000 (0.3%). Female employment growth was mainly in full-time workers, which rose 42,000 (1.1%) in April. Female part-time workers rose by 23,000 (0.8%),” Crick says.
“The strong growth in employment led to a rise in the employment-to-population ratio of 0.3 percentage points to 64.4% in April, just below the record high of 64.5% seen in January.
“The addition of 6,000 unemployed people meant the labour force grew by 95,000 people and the participation rate rose by 0.3 percentage points to 67.1%.
“The participation rate for 35-44 year olds had the largest annual growth, up 1.9 percentage points to 88.3%.”
Images: ABS & Kalamazoo
