Unemployment fee rises in April

The seasonally adjusted unemployment fee rose by 0.2 proportion factors to 4.1% in April, up from 3.9% in March, contemporary ABS figures confirmed.

Rising employment, unemployment, participation fee

With employment rising by round 38,000 individuals and the variety of unemployed rising by some 30,000 individuals, the unemployment fee rose to 4.1%, and the participation fee edged as much as 66.7%.

“The 30,000 individuals improve in unemployment mirrored extra individuals with out jobs out there and on the lookout for work, and likewise extra individuals than common indicating that they’d a job that they have been ready to start out in,” Bjorn Jarvis (pictured above), ABS head of labour statistics, mentioned in a media launch.

“The will increase in each employment and unemployment in April noticed the participation fee up by 0.1 proportion level to 66.7% in April. It has been comparatively excessive, above 66.5%, since March 2023.”

The employment-to-population ratio remained regular in April at 64%, indicating that latest employment progress is broadly conserving tempo with inhabitants progress.

“This implies that the labour market stays tight, although much less tight than late 2022 and early 2023,” Jarvis mentioned.

Regular month-to-month hours labored

Seasonally adjusted month-to-month hours labored remained steady between March and April.

“The seasonal change in hours labored in April 2024 was just like the conventional sample we normally see across the Easter holidays,” Jarvis mentioned.

“In distinction to what we noticed final 12 months, when fewer individuals than common took break day across the Easter holidays in April 2023, the proportion of individuals working decreased hours in April 2024 was extra just like what we noticed earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Underemployment and underutilisation charges

The ABS figures additionally confirmed that the underemployment fee rose by 0.2 proportion factors to six.6% in April, whereas the underutilisation fee, which mixes the unemployment and underemployment charges, elevated by 0.3 proportion factors to 10.7%. Regardless of these will increase, each charges stay considerably decrease than their ranges in March 2020.

Examine the newest ABS knowledge with the figures in March and February.

Development knowledge insights

The pattern unemployment fee stayed at 4% in April. Development employment grew by 31,000 individuals (0.2%), aligning with the common progress noticed over the 20 years earlier than the pandemic.

Hours labored elevated by 0.4% between March and April, aligning extra intently with employment progress since December 2023 and surpassing the earlier peak in June 2023.

The employment-to-population ratio stayed at 64% in April, near the excessive ranges of 2023 and 1.9 factors larger than March 2020. The participation fee remained at 66.7%, in keeping with the previous 12 months and nicely above the 65.6% in March 2020.

The underemployment fee held regular at 6.6%, and the underutilisation fee remained at 10.6%.

“The newest pattern knowledge continues to level to a comparatively tight labour market, in keeping with what now we have seen in Single Contact Payroll knowledge and job vacancies knowledge,” Jarvis mentioned.

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