Sydney, April 13: According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at a near 50-year low of 3.5 per cent in March.
This was due to an increase of approximately 53,000 people in employment and a decrease of 1,600 people in unemployment.
Both the employment-to-population ratio and participation rate were close to their historical highs in November 2022, indicating a tight labour market.
The female employment rate has also been consistently increasing, with a record high female participation rate of 62.5 percent and a historical high employment-to-population ratio of 60.4 percent. However, seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked decreased by 0.2 per cent in March 2023, following a strong increase in February, reflecting the tight labour market.
Over the past 12 months, hours worked have increased by 5.5 per cent, which is greater than the 3.3 per cent increase in employment, indicating that the high demand for labour is being absorbed by people working longer hours.
The underemployment rate rose to 6.2 per cent in March, while the underutilisation rate (a combination of unemployment and underemployment rates) rose to 9.7 per cent.
In trend terms, there was a 0.2 per cent increase in trend employment and trend monthly hours worked. The trend unemployment rate remained at 3.5 per cent for the eighth consecutive month, while the trend underemployment rate rose slightly to 6.1 per cent.
The trend participation rate increased to its highest rate in the trend series at 66.8 per cent, and the trend employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.4 percent.
Overall, the consistently tight labour market is indicated by the high employment-to-population ratio and participation rate, along with the low unemployment and underemployment rates.
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