Participation rate hits new high
Australia’s unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% in July, an increase of 0.1 percentage point, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.
Kate Lamb, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said the number of unemployed Australians grew by 24,000 in July, bringing the total to 637,000. Despite the uptick, unemployment remains approximately 70,000 below pre-pandemic levels.
The participation rate reached a record high of 67.1%, with 58,000 more people employed in July. This increase in employment also raised the employment-to-population ratio by 0.1 percentage point to 64.3%, just below its historical peak of 64.4% recorded in November 2023.
“While the unemployment rate has risen slightly over the past two months, the record participation rate and near-record employment-to-population ratio indicate a high level of job engagement,” Lamb said.
“The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in July, with the number of unemployed growing by 24,000 people and employed by around 58,000," Kate Lamb, ABS head of labour statistics
— Australian Bureau of Statistics (@ABSStats) August 15, 2024
Visit https://t.co/pzJiW3Yqo9 pic.twitter.com/hfe1bqDMvi
The latest labour force data from ABS also indicated a 0.4% increase in monthly hours worked, matching the rise in employment. The proportion of employed people working reduced hours due to illness remained at 4.2%, above the pre-pandemic July average of 3.6%. This was balanced by a slight decrease in the number of people reducing work hours for other reasons, such as taking annual leave.
The underemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 6.3% in July, 2.4 percentage points lower than in March 2020. However, the underutilisation rate, which combines unemployment and underemployment, increased slightly to 10.6%, up 0.3 percentage point from July 2023.
In trend terms, employment grew by 48,000 people, or 0.3%, which is faster than the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 0.2%. Hours worked grew by 0.2% between June and July, slightly trailing the increase in employment.
“The employment and participation measures remain historically high, while unemployment and underemployment measures remain historically low, compared with what we saw before the pandemic,” Lamb said. “This suggests the labour market remains quite tight.”
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
