Jobless rate lowest in four years
ALMOST 20,000 Australians found work last month, far outpacing economists’ expectations of the nation’s jobs growth and heaping together a year of straight employment growth.
This helped drag the unemployment rate down to 5.5 per cent in September, compared to 5.6 per cent the month before.
Doing the heavy lifting were people getting part-time employment increasing 13,700 and people getting full-time employment increasing 6100.
This means there are now 12.3 million Aussies with a job.
Economists had tipped the economy would produce 15,000 jobs.
The participation rate which tracks the number of people looking for work remained steady at 65.2 per cent.
In trend terms, which irons out seasonal employment trends, it is the lowest unemployment rate in four years.
“The good news keeps on flowing. More people are looking for work. More people are finding work,” Commsec chief economist Craig James said.
He said the share of women participating in the job market is the highest on record.
“The job market is healthy and is tightening in many parts of the country, suggesting higher wage growth is ahead,” he said.
HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said he expected to see the labour market “continuing to tighten up” over coming quarters.