Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show an additional 76,000 people gained work last month – nearly all of them in NSW and Victoria – helping push the employment-to-population ratio up by 0.2 percentage points to a record high of 64.5 per cent.
ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the participation rate for women also rose to a record of 62.7 per cent,while the participation rate for men remained at 71.2 per cent.
“Looking across the range of indicators – strong growth in hours worked,the elevated employment-to-population ratio and participation rate,along with the low unemployment and underemployment rates – they all point to a continuing tight labour market,” Jarvis said.
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Callam Pickering,Asia Pacific economist at jobs site Indeed,said the labour market would probably remain strong in the near term,increasing the likelihood of another rate rise.
“Australia’s job vacancy rate is 2.8 per cent,which is still around twice as high as was considered normal before the pandemic,” he said.
“In the current jobs market,job seekers are still spoiled for choice and that simply isn’t consistent with a spike in the unemployment rate.