Australia Jobless Rate Rises Slightly In June
(RTTNews) - Australia's unemployment rate rose slightly in June despite a sharp increase in employment, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
The jobless rate rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in June, while it was expected to remain unchanged at 4.0 percent.
Employment increased by 50,200 in June, much bigger than economists' forecast of 20,000.
The participation rate came in at 66.9 percent in June, up from 66.8 percent in May. Further, the employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.1 percentage point to 64.2 percent, data showed.
Both the employment-to-population ratio and participation rate continued to be near their 2023 highs, said ABS head of labor statistics Bjorn Jarvis.
"This, along with the continued high level of job vacancies, suggests the labor market remains relatively tight, despite the unemployment rate being above 4.0 per cent since April," added Jarvis.
Although job growth remained healthy last month, it didn't prevent the unemployment rate from rising anew, Capital Economics' economist Abhijit Surya said. This has lifted the jobless rate by 0.1 percentage point.
The economist said a concurrent rise in the participation rate combined with rapid growth in the working age population raised the labor force by an even stronger 59,900.
There are signs that the labor market will cool in earnest as labor demand softens, he added.