Australia’s unemployment rate has remained stable at 3.4 per cent while workforce participation returned to a record high, new data reveals.
Official estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ labour force survey indicate unemployment remained steady through November.
About 33,000 jobs were added to the economy over the month, the majority of which were full-time.
ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the results show Australia continues to have a “tight labour market”, where jobs are plentiful and workers scarce, with most growth in full-time employment.
“Having generally trended down over the decades through to 2017. It (full-time work) has now increased to 69.7 per cent in November 2022,” he said.
Illness continued to have a significant effect on the number of hours worked, with more than 500,000 people working reduced hours in November – a third higher than usual.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers welcomed the results but cautioned that global economic volatility would “inevitably” impact the labour market.
“We know Australia won’t be immune to the volatile global economic environment driving higher global inflation and slowing growth,” he said.
“Due to a decade of deliberate wage stagnation under our predecessors and the rising cost of living, workers’ real wages are still going backwards.
“International developments and cost of living pressures will inevitably have an impact on our economy and labour market, which is why our plan to fight inflation and get wages moving again is so important.”