Australia's unemployment rate remained steady for third consecutive month
The unemployment rate in Australia remained at 4.1% for the third consecutive month in October, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
"With employment rising by around 16,000 people and the number of unemployed up by around 8,000, the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%," said Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, in a statement.
This is around 0.6 percentage points above its recent low of 3.5% in June 2023 but 1.1 percentage points below the 5.2% in March 2020, according to Jarvis.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
By location, the Northern Territory registered the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate with 4.6%, followed by Victoria with 4.5%. Other states and territories logged:
Underemployment across Australia dipped by 0.1 percentage point to 6.2%, according to the ABS, while underutilisation also remained at 10.4% in October 2024.
Meanwhile, monthly hours worked went up by 0.1% in October, in line with the 0.1% rise in employment, the ABS data revealed.
"Since the start of the pandemic, growth in hours worked has been more varied than employment. However, in recent months we have been seeing a more consistent relationship between them," Jarvis said.
Employment Minister Murray Watt lauded the addition of around 16,000 jobs in October, stressing that the government has created over one million new jobs since the election.
"That's the most that have ever been created in one parliamentary term under any government," Watt told 6PR Mornings.
"As I say, you know, important figures, and it's not just about statistics, it's about what it means for people's lives, that they've got a job, they've got a better chance of getting a job, that they're earning good money."
