The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 4.0 per cent in December, according to data released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Employment rose by 56,000 people, following a bump of 36,000 a month prior.
Consensus was for an unemployment rate of 4.0 per cent and a lift to employment by 15,000.
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “With employment rising by 56,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 10,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 4.0 per cent.
“The number of employed people grew by 0.4 per cent in December 2024, slightly higher than the average monthly rise of 0.3 per cent during 2024. It was also higher than the average monthly population growth of 0.2 per cent over the year,” Jarvis said.
Moreover, the employment-to-population ratio rose 0.1 percentage point to a new record of 64.5 per cent. This was 0.5 percentage points higher than a year ago and 2.3 percentage points higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The rise in both the number of people employed and unemployed also saw a further rise in the participation rate, that is the percentage of the population who are employed or unemployed,” Jarvis said.
“The participation rate rose 0.2 percentage points to a record high of 67.1 per cent in December. This was 0.5 percentage points higher than a year ago, and 1.6 percentage points higher than March 2020.”
More to come.
