Australia: Jobless at 31 Year Low

Australia’s jobless rate hit a 31-year low of 4.4 per cent in April as the nation’s jobs boom continues to surge.

Expansion in full-time and part-time jobs drove the growth, which saw the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate drop from 4.5 percent to 4.4 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today. That is the lowest unemployment level since May 1976.

Nationally, full time employment increased by 11,600 to 7.45 million and part-time employment rose 38,000 to 2.96 million.

The participation rate in April was 64.9 per cent, compared with 64.8 per cent in March.

Among the states and territories, the jobless rate in New South Wales stayed at 5.1 per cent in April, while in Victoria it fell to 4.8 per cent from 4.9 per cent and in Queensland it dropped to 3.4 per cent from 3.9 per cent.

In South Australia the unemployment rate stayed at 5.3 per cent in April and also remained static at 2.7 per cent in Western Australia, while in Tasmania it rose to 5.6 per cent from 5.4 per cent.

In the Northern Territory the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 per cent from 3.8 per cent, while in the ACT it rose to 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent.