Latest news with #SeanCrick
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shock jump in unemployment rate
Australia's unemployment rate has shocked expectations and jumped, with less Aussies in the workforce. Fresh figures released by the ABS shows the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent last month, beating expectations of 4.1 per cent. Employment as a whole rose by 2000 people this month, following a fall of 1000 in May, and is up 2 per cent year on year. The rise in unemployment was determined as 33,600 workers became unemployed in the month of June. This was against expectations of 20,000 jobs to be added in the month and the unemployment rate to hold. The underemployment rate also increased to 6 per cent, as 40,200 part time roles were created and 38,200 full time roles were lost from the job market. The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.2 per cent, and the participation rate, being people who are actively working, rose to 67.1 per cent. Hours worked fell 0.9 per cent in June, following a rise of 1.4 per cent in May. ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said: 'This month we saw a decrease in full time hours worked, down 1.3 per cent, associated with a 0.4 per cent fall in full time employees.' Prior to Thursday's official announcement, experts had tipped the unemployment rate to remain at 4.1 per cent, although they did predict a tightening of the jobs market. The Reserve Bank of Australia will be watching the jobless rate ahead of its next meeting, having the dual mandate of employment and controlling inflation. 'I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,' NAB's head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said. 'The timing of cuts is not super important. 'It's more about where do they end up.' In a move that shocked markets and disappointed homeowners, the RBA kept the official cash rate at 3.85 per cent during its July 8 meeting. Most economists had already pencilled in a rate cut as well as another cut in August. Inicia sesión para acceder a tu portafolio
West Australian
7 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Employment rises by 2,000 but jobless rate jumps
Australia's unemployment rate has shocked expectations and jumped, with less Aussies in the workforce. Fresh figures released by the ABS shows the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent last month, beating expectations of 4.1 per cent. Employment as a whole rose by 2000 people this month, following a fall of 1000 in May, and is up 2 per cent year on year. The rise in unemployment was determined as 33,600 workers became unemployed in the month of June. This was against expectations of 20,000 jobs to be added in the month and the unemployment rate to hold. The underemployment rate also increased to 6 per cent, as 40,200 part time roles were created and 38,200 full time roles were lost from the job market. The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.2 per cent, and the participation rate, being people who are actively working, rose to 67.1 per cent. Hours worked fell 0.9 per cent in June, following a rise of 1.4 per cent in May. ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said: 'This month we saw a decrease in full time hours worked, down 1.3 per cent, associated with a 0.4 per cent fall in full time employees.' Prior to Thursday's official announcement, experts had tipped the unemployment rate to remain at 4.1 per cent, although they did predict a tightening of the jobs market. The Reserve Bank of Australia will be watching the jobless rate ahead of its next meeting, having the dual mandate of employment and controlling inflation. 'I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,' NAB's head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said. 'The timing of cuts is not super important. 'It's more about where do they end up.' In a move that shocked markets and disappointed homeowners, the RBA kept the official cash rate at 3.85 per cent during its July 8 meeting. Most economists had already pencilled in a rate cut as well as another cut in August.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Shock jump in unemployment rate
Australia's unemployment rate has shocked expectations and jumped, with less Aussies in the workforce. Fresh figures released by the ABS shows the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent last month, beating expectations of 4.1 per cent. Employment as a whole rose by 2000 people this month, following a fall of 1000 in May, and is up 2 per cent year on year. The rise in unemployment was determined as 33,600 workers became unemployed in the month of June. This was against expectations of 20,000 jobs to be added in the month and the unemployment rate to hold. The underemployment rate also increased to 6 per cent, as 40,200 part time roles were created and 38,200 full time roles were lost from the job market. Australia's unemployment rate unexpectedly rose in June. NewsWire / David Geraghty Credit: News Corp Australia The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.2 per cent, and the participation rate, being people who are actively working, rose to 67.1 per cent. Hours worked fell 0.9 per cent in June, following a rise of 1.4 per cent in May. ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said: 'This month we saw a decrease in full time hours worked, down 1.3 per cent, associated with a 0.4 per cent fall in full time employees.' Prior to Thursday's official announcement, experts had tipped the unemployment rate to remain at 4.1 per cent, although they did predict a tightening of the jobs market. The Reserve Bank of Australia will be watching the jobless rate ahead of its next meeting, having the dual mandate of employment and controlling inflation. 'I think the focus for the RBA will be ensuring the labour market remains healthy going forward,' NAB's head of Australian economics Gareth Spence said. 'The timing of cuts is not super important. 'It's more about where do they end up.' In a move that shocked markets and disappointed homeowners, the RBA kept the official cash rate at 3.85 per cent during its July 8 meeting. Most economists had already pencilled in a rate cut as well as another cut in August.
Epoch Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Unemployment Holds at 4.1 Percent as Job Market Absorbs More Workers
Australia's unemployment rate stayed steady at 4.1 percent in April, even as more people entered the job market and total employment continued to grow. According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the economy added 89,000 jobs last month. The number of unemployed people also rose slightly—by 6,000—as more Australians actively looked for work. This marks the second consecutive month with a 4.1 percent unemployment rate, following a small increase from 4.0 percent in March. Over the past 12 months, employment has grown by 390,000 people, or 2.7 percent. That's ahead of the 2.1 percent growth in the working-age population, showing the labour market is absorbing new entrants at a strong pace. Women Lead Employment Gains Women accounted for the majority of new roles in April, with female employment rising by 65,000, or 0.9 percent. Most of that growth came from full-time jobs, which climbed by 42,000 (1.1 percent), while part-time roles added 23,000 (0.8 percent). Related Stories 4/17/2025 3/4/2025 By comparison, male employment rose by 24,000, an increase of just 0.3 percent. Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, noted a significant rise in participation among Australians aged 35 to 44. Their participation rate has grown 1.9 percentage points over the past year, reaching 88.3 percent in April. The overall participation rate—the share of working-age people either working or looking for work—rose by 0.3 percentage points to 67.1 percent. The employment-to-population ratio, which reflects the proportion of people with jobs, also climbed to 64.4 percent, just shy of January's record high of 64.5 percent. Despite the job growth, total monthly hours worked rose only slightly in April—up by 630,000 hours, or effectively unchanged at 0.0 percent. This suggests some of the new employment may have been part-time or involved shorter hours. Underemployment, Underutilisation Edge Up The underemployment rate, which measures those working fewer hours than they want, inched up to 6 percent in April, a 0.1 point rise from March. Still, it remains 0.5 percentage points below April 2024 levels, and 2.7 points lower than in March 2020, before the full impact of pandemic policies hit. The broader underutilisation rate, which combines both unemployed and underemployed people, rose by 0.2 points to 10.1 percent. This is still down 3.8 percentage points compared to March 2020. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hailed these numbers, saying the Labor government continues to maintain historically low unemployment. 'While there are still challenges in our economy and people are still under pressure, we still have Australia's lowest average unemployment rate of any government in over 50 years,' he said. Job Ads Show Signs of Recovery Private-sector data also suggests stabilisation in the labour market. According to Seek's April report, the number of job ads rose by 1.8 percent last month following two months of decline. Queensland led the rebound, with listings up 7.6 percent, while South Australia's job ads were 5.6 percent higher than a year earlier. Hospitality and tourism topped industry growth, with ads climbing 9.8 percent—likely due to seasonal hiring. Healthcare and medical jobs rose by 3.8 percent, bouncing back from a steep drop in March. Blair Chapman, SEEK's senior economist, said the recent trend shows employers are returning to the market. However, month-to-month variation remains due to factors like the timing of Easter and ANZAC Day. 'Looking through the recent month-on-month noise, we continue to see job ads stabilise in line with our expectations,' he said. On an annual basis, Seek reported that the rate of job ad decline has slowed to 5.7 percent—the smallest drop since December 2022.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spike in Aussies joining the workforce
More Australians are back in the workforce in March, correcting a major fall in employment at the start of the year. Fresh figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 32,000 more Australians found work in March. Overall Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent, beating forecasts of unemployment rising to 4.2 per cent. ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick, said while there were more jobs created, 3,000 people lost their job in March. 'Employment has grown by 308,000 people, or 2.2 per cent, over the last 12 months,' he said. 'This annual growth rate is slightly higher than the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 2.0 per cent.' The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.1 per cent in March, while the participation rate increased slightly to 66.8 per cent. But the number of hours worked decreased by 0.3 per cent, falling for the second month in a row, despite the growth in employment this month. The labour force data was the most important piece of domestic data released today, which so far has proven resilient despite cost of living pressures. While more Australians found a job in the last month, it comes off the back of a surprising fall in employment over February, as a spike of older Australians and females left the workforce. KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne said at the time the large drop in employment was due to more Aussies retiring as well as a fall in the female participation rate. 'It is possible that a combination of the stage 3 tax cuts, the February interest rate cut and some wages growth in partner incomes have done enough to ease household budgets and pull them back from looking for work,' Mr Rynne said. Sign in to access your portfolio
