Australia’s unemployment rate remains low with the latest ABS data showing it stayed steady at 3.5% in June.
ABS head of Labour Statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, says about 33,000 people found jobs in June, while the number of unemployed people dropped by 11,000.
At the same time the employment-to-population ratio hit a record high 64.5%, which he says indicates a tight labour market and that employment growth aligned with population growth. The number of people aged under 15 who are employed increased during the month to 64.5%.
In addition to more people finding work, the data shows an increase in the hours worked. Over the past year, total hours worked increased by 4.7%.
Business analyst Anneke Thompson says despite the unemployment rate remaining steady she believes it may change later in 2023, with major companies including Telstra, Lend Lease, and Westpac, announcing they may make redundancies through restructuring.
The June Business Risk Index data, indicates that businesses are displaying caution in their operations.
