Australia's unemployment rate rises to 3.8 pc in March

CANBERRA: Australia's unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.8% in March, official data has revealed.

According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the number of employed Australians decreased by 6,600 between February and March, pushing the unemployment rate up from 3.7% to 3.8%. 

News Corp Australia newspapers reported that economists had generally anticipated the unemployment rate to reach 3.9% in March. This decline in employment follows a growth in the number of employed Australians by 116,500 between January and February.

The ABS stated that the number of Australians in full-time roles increased by 27,900 between February and March, but part-time employment decreased by 34,500 during the same period. Despite the net job loss, the total number of hours worked by Australians was 17 million or 0.9% higher in March than in February and 1.7% higher than in March 2023.

The participation rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population who are either employed or actively seeking work, fell marginally from 66.7% to 66.6%. Bjorn Jarvis, the head of labour statistics at the ABS, stated in a media release that the participation rate was significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels and near the record high of 67% set in November 2023.

By RSS/Xinhua