According to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 per cent in February.
ABS labour statistics head Bjorn Jarvis said the reduction has seen a return to the level last seen in December 2022.
“With employment increasing by around 65,000 people, and the number of unemployed decreasing by 17,000 people, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent,” he said.
“The February increase in employment follows consecutive falls in December and January.
“In January, this reflected a larger than usual number of people waiting to start a new job, the majority of whom returned to or commenced their jobs in February.”
In line with the increase in employment, the employment to population ratio increased 0.2 per cent to 64.3 per cent in February, back to the level in December 2022.
Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked increased by 3.9 per cent in February 2023.
Mr Jarvis said there were no major disruption to affect peoples’ ability to work normal hours.
“Following the 2.1 per cent fall in January, when more Australians than usual took annual leave, the hours worked in February bounced back strongly to a level similar to late 2022, and were 5.1 per cent higher than February 2022,” he said.
