The under-employment level fell by 0.3 percentage points to 7.4 per cent,the lowest that has been since January 2014. It is now 1.4 percentage points below the rate at the start of the pandemic,with the largest drop among women.
The figures,which largely pre-date the Victorian COVID-19 lockdown,were driven by a 115,200 lift in employment,of which 97,500 were full-time positions.
Since May last year,full-time employment has grown by 421,300 while part-time is up by 565,900.
There was a 53,000 drop in the number of unemployed people. The strong result was also accompanied by a lift in the participation rate.
Among the states and territories,unemployment fell by 0.7 percentage points in both Victoria and Queensland.
Victoria’s jobless rate fell to 4.8 per cent while in NSW it is now 5 per cent and Queensland is at 5.4 per cent. The lowest jobless rate is in the ACT at 3.6 per cent while the highest is in South Australia at 5.8 per cent.