Australia’s unemployment rate dropped in July and employment increased sharply, suggesting that the labor market conditions remain strong, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed Thursday.
The jobless rate came in at 4.2 percent in July compared to 4.3 percent in June, which was the highest since late 2021. The 4.2 percent matched economists’ expectations.
Employment increased by 24,500 from the previous month to 14.64 million. Economists were expecting a monthly increase of 25,300.
At the same time, the number of unemployed decreased by 10,200 from a month ago to 649,000.
ABS Head of Labour Statistics Sean Crick said growth in employment was driven by full-time employment, which increased 60,000. This was partly offset by a fall of 36,000 in part-time employment.
The growth in employment resulted in the employment-to-population ratio rising slightly to 64.2 percent, Crick said.
The participation rate held steady at 67.0 percent in July, slightly below forecast of 67.1 percent.
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