Australia’s jobless rate is steady as she goes – and so too is the economy

Not only is Australia’s jobless rate calm at 3.5% for a second month in a row, and the participation rate stuck at 66.6% in seasonally adjusted terms, just 900 jobs were added in an economy employing almost 13.6 million people. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

September’s jobless figures may have remained steady, but a deeper dive shows the seemingly dull and inert data is worth a closer look.

The labour market numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are, on the face of it, almost as steady as is statistically feasible.