August 15th 2024.
Last month, the unemployment rate in Australia saw a slight increase, despite employers exceeding expectations by adding three times the anticipated number of jobs. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the jobless rate rose by 0.1 per cent in July, reaching 4.2 per cent.
On a more positive note, the economy saw an addition of 58,000 new jobs last month, with the majority being full-time positions. This was welcomed news for many, especially amidst the ongoing pandemic and its impact on employment.
Kate Lamb, the head of labour statistics, noted that the number of unemployed individuals had grown by 24,000 people. She also shared that the participation rate, which measures the number of people actively seeking employment, reached a record high of 67.1 per cent. Additionally, the employment-to-population ratio, which compares the number of employed individuals to the total population, increased by 0.1 percentage point to 64.3 per cent. This indicates that employment growth is outpacing population growth and is just shy of the all-time high of 64.4 per cent in November 2023.
Lamb commented on the recent increase in the unemployment rate, stating that although it had risen for the past two months, the high participation rate and near record high employment-to-population ratio show that there are still many individuals securing employment and actively searching for jobs. This is a positive sign for the economy and job market.
Looking ahead, the Reserve Bank of Australia has forecasted that the unemployment rate will reach 4.3 per cent by the end of 2024. While this is a slight increase, the recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests that the job market is still resilient and steadily recovering.
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