Shock jump in Australia's employment rate as more Aussies join the workforce in April
More Australians are in the workforce for the second straight month, correcting a soft start to the year, new figures show.
Employment rose by 89,000 in the month of April beating expectations of a 20,000 person lift in Aussies finding a job.
Overall, the unemployment came in line with experts predictions, holding steady at 4.1 per cent.
Despite the spike in the number of Aussies working, the unemployment rate did not change as the participation rates or those who are either in or want a job also rose by 3 percentage points to 67.1 per cent.
Oxford Economics Australia Sean Langcake said Thursday's spike in activity will likely be short-lived.
'While the market had not slackened materially, employment growth had slowed and participation came back from its peak, which was partly attributed to older workers' employment decisions,' he said.
'These trends reversed in April, with stellar jobs growth taking the market more or less back to where it was in January.
'The surge in activity is likely to be partly related to the Federal election campaign, which means this strength will be short lived.'
ABS head of labour statistics Sean Click said 'with employment increasing by 89,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 6,000 people, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 per cent for April.'
The rise in employment is the last piece of economic data the Reserve Bank of Australia will get ahead of next week's rate decision.
The strong job figures followed data released on Wednesday which showed wages are also on the rise, up 3.4 per cent.
This was 1 per cent above headline inflation of 2.4 per cent, showing workers on aggregate are going forward.
But most of the pay rises were due to awards and a boost in public service jobs.
A stronger than expected labour market, while good for Aussies looking for a job, is a key component of inflation.
The rise in employment was largely led by female participation, up 65,000 compared with last month, while 24,000 males found a new job.
Over the last 12-months employment has grown by 390,000 people, or 2.7.
This annual growth rate is higher than the population growth rate for people aged 15 years and over, which was 2.1 per cent over the same period.
The strong growth in employment led to a rise in the employment-to-population ratio of 0.3 percentage points to 64.4 per cent in April, just below the record high of 64.5 per cent seen in January.
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