Despite warnings of a global economic downturn, Australia has again defied the odds with its official unemployment rate remaining steady at 3.5% in March.
Behind that number though, plenty happened. The total number of people in jobs grew by 53,000. The increase of 116,600 in employment in the past two months surpasses anything seen since the middle of 2022, when the unemployment rate first hit 3.5%. It seems there is still plenty of strength in labour demand.
The only reason Australia doesn’t have an even lower unemployment rate is that labour-force participation rose by about the same amount as employment – 51,500. In fact, the similar size of increases in employment and labour-force participation in the past two months, together with continued high vacancy rates, suggests employment growth now depends on new entrants to the workforce.
