Australia’s unemployment rate has slipped lower to just 4 per cent, with a spike in people starting new jobs last month.
The figure was in line with forecasts, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported some of May’s rise in employment reflected people starting new jobs or returning to their jobs.
It’s a decrease from 4.1 per cent in April and keeps the unemployment rate at near half-century low levels, which is supporting the broader economy despite cost-of-living pressures and higher interest rates.
The Reserve Bank of Australia meets on Tuesday to determine interest rates but most economists expect they will be kept on hold at 4.35 per cent.
The ABS also reported there are now nearly 600,000 unemployed people, but that’s still nearly 110,000 fewer than in March 2020, just before the pandemic.
At a State level, the unemployment rate is lowest in WA at 3.6 per cent, and highest in Victoria at 4.4 per cent. NSW posted 3.8 per cent and it is now 4 per cent in Queensland and SA.
More to come…