Australia’s headline unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent in April, up 0.2 percentage points from March.
The number of people counted as officially unemployed increased by 30,300 last month, while the number of employed people increased by 38,500.
With employment and unemployment both rising, the participation rate rose by 0.1 percentage points, to 66.7 per cent, which is relatively high.
Bureau of Statistics data show the employment-to-population ratio remained steady at 64 per cent, indicating that recent employment growth is broadly keeping pace with population growth.
“This suggests that the labour market remains tight, though less tight than late 2022 and early 2023,” said Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics.
Hours worked remained unchanged last month, despite the steady 38,500 increase in employment.
That’s because more people took leave around Easter than they did last year, with work patterns aligning more broadly to pre-COVID times.
Economists say it’s another sign labour markets are returning to more normal seasonal patterns, and becoming looser overall.
“The labour market is expected to slacken over 2024,” said Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting for Oxford Economics Australia.
“The economy is slowing, and forward indicators of labour demand are weakening,” he said.
“Today’s data are consistent with that easing being underway, although the data are likely to look stronger again next month as job attached workers flow into employment,” he said.
On Wednesday, ABS data showed the Wage Price Index rose at an annual pace of 4.1 per cent in the March quarter, down from 4.2 per cent in the December quarter.
Economists said the decline in the index suggested that wages growth may have peaked in Australia, which could help the Reserve Bank of Australia to control inflation.
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