Changing workforce creates more jobs

MORE women and older men will be a big part of future Australian workplaces, while the ageing of the population will create new work opportunities broadly, the Reserve Bank says.

The RBA is forecasting the jobless rate, at 5.5 per cent now, will fall to 5.25 per cent by mid next year, according to its latest quarterly health check on the economy.

Unemployment has been about 5.5 per cent since mid last year, and has not fallen because of an increase in the participation rate — broadly the proportion of people employed or looking for work.

In its latest Statement on Monetary Policy, released yesterday, the RBA has examined why the participation rate has risen and is close to a record high at 65.5 per cent.

The increase is due to higher participation of women aged 25 to 54 and older men, the report says.

Women have been more likely to participate in paid work since the global financial crisis.

The RBA said factors driving the increase included changing perceptions of traditional gender roles, more flexible hours in full-time work and increased availability of part-time work.

“The need to increase household income to manage household debt may also have contributed,” it said.

Strong jobs growth in the healthcare and social assistance industries since mid-2016 was also likely to have encouraged more women into the workforce, the statement said.

The number of people employed in healthcare and social assistance grew by more than 150,000 over the year to February, accounting for more than a third of total employment growth over that period.