Unemployment rate climbs to 4.2% in July

Australia's unemployment rate inched up to 4.2% in July, while the participation rate hit a record high of 67.1%, according to the latest data from the Statistics Bureau (ABS).

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went up 0.1 percentage point, with the number of unemployed going up by 24,000 people to reach 637,000 in July.

Kate Lamb, ABS head of labour statistics, said while this is the highest total of unemployed individuals since November 2021, it’s about 70,000 below the pre-pandemic level.

"The unemployment rate of 4.2% was also the highest since November 2021, but was one percentage point lower than March 2020," Lamb said in a statement.

^{Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics}

Record-high participation rate

Meanwhile, the number of employed individuals also increased by around 58,000, according to the ABS.

"This combined increase lifted the participation rate to a record high of 67.1%," Lamb said.

The employment-to-population ratio also rose by 0.1 percentage point to reach 64.3% in July, indicating that employment growth was faster than population growth.

"Although the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point in each of the past two months, the record high participation rate and near record high employment-to-population ratio shows that there continues to be a high number of people in jobs, and looking for and finding jobs," Lamb said.

Unemployment by state

By location, Victoria reported the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Australia with 4.6%, but it also saw a record number of Victorians in jobs.

ABS data showed that over 26,000 Victorians got employed in July, raising the state's total unemployment to a record 3.78 million.

"Despite global cost-of-living pressures and elevated interest rates, we have created the conditions for economic growth and created thousands of jobs for Victorians," said Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas in a statement.

For other locations, they registered the following seasonally adjusted unemployment rate:

• New South Wales (4.0%)
• Queensland (4.3%)
• South Australia (4.3%)
• Western Australia (3.7%)
• Tasmania (4.3%)
• Northern Territory (4.3%)
• Australian Capital Territory (3.9%)