Australia’s labour market grew more than expected in September, blowing past expectations for a sixth consecutive month as the labour market continued to run hot despite broader economic weakness. The total number of employed people grew by 64,100 in September, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. The reading was well above expectations for an increase of 25,200 people, and also picked from the 47,500 seen in the prior month.
Australia’s participation rate- which gauges the percentage of the population that is within the employment sector- unexpectedly rose to 67.2%, remaining close to record highs, while the unemployment rate was steady at 4.1%. Strength in the labour market was driven chiefly by a high number of job vacancies, the ABS said in a note, with vacancies remaining above pre-COVID-19 levels. “The trend employment and participation measures are at an all-time high, while unemployment and underemployment measures are still low, especially compared with what we saw before the pandemic. This suggests the labour market continues to be relatively tight,” Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics said.
Thursday’s data pointed to another month of the labour market remaining hot, despite broader pressure on the Australian economy from high interest rates and sticky inflation. A strong labour market has been one of the key driving forces of Australian inflation, and also gives the Reserve Bank more headroom to keep interest rates high for longer.
