Australian unemployment rate steady at 4.3 pct

Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3 percent in November, according to official data released on Thursday.

Monthly labor force data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent for the fifth time in the last six months, with a rise to 4.4 percent in September the only exception.

The ABS figures revealed that the number of employed Australians fell by 21,300 between October and November, while the number of unemployed people actively looking for work fell by 2,100 in the same time period.

The number of Australians employed full-time fell by 56,500 between October and November, which was partially offset by a rise in part-time employment of 35,200 people. The labor force participation rate fell from 66.9 percent in October to 66.7 percent in November, marking the equal-lowest figure since March 2024. Sean Crick, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said that employment growth of 1.3 percent over the 12 months to November was below the population growth of 2 percent in the same period.

The total number of hours worked by Australians was steady between October and November, and increased by 1.2 percent on an annual basis.