Australia’s unemployment rate was steady at 4.2 per cent in August, in line with expectations.
Over the month, 47,500 jobs were added to the economy, more than the 25,000 pencilled in by forecasters.
Australian Bureau of Statistics head of labour statistics Kate Lamb said the gains in employment were accompanied by the number of unemployed people falling by around 10,000.
“This resulted in the unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.2 per cent and the participation rate remaining at its record high of 67.1 per cent,” she said.
The growth in employment increased the employment-to-population ratio by 0.1 percentage point to 64.3 per cent, just shy of its November 2023 record.
“The high employment-to-population ratio and participation rate shows that there are still large numbers of people entering the labour force and finding work, as employers continue to look to fill a more than usual number of job vacancies,” Ms Lamb said.
The labour market has proven resilient to a broader economic slowdown engineered to bring down inflation, though has been softening bit-by-bit.
Thursday’s labour force readout follows the United States central bank cutting interest rates by 50 basis points, leaving borrowers wondering if the Reserve Bank of Australia will follow suit when it meets next week.
The RBA maintains it has more work to do on inflation and has been pushing back on expectations of near-term cuts even with easing already underway in a number of peer economies.
