Unemployment rate eased to 4.3% in October
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The news: The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in October following a surprise spike in the prior month.
Economists were broadly expecting the unemployment rate to decrease 0.1 percentage points to 4.4%, about 17,000 jobs to be added and a participation rate of about 67%.
The numbers: There was a 17,000 decline of unemployed people and a lift of employed people by 42,000.
Full-time employment increased by 55,000. There was a decline in part-time employment of 13,000.
The participation rate remained stable at 67%. Hours worked increased by 0.5%.
The context: Jobs figures can be volatile from month to month but are a critical datapoint for the Reserve Bank, which seeks to achieve stable inflation at 2% to 3% and full employment.
The September labour force release, which indicated a lift in joblessness to 4.5%, surprised economists and led some to temporarily increase their expectations for a rate cut in November. These forecasts were quickly snuffed out by a high quarterly inflation read published shortly afterwards.
The lower unemployment rate will potentially give the RBA more flexibility to focus firmly on the inflation figures without needing to be concerned about a surge in joblessness.
What they said: "The unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% after rising to 4.5% in September. The October unemployment rate is in line with June, July, and August 2025," ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.
"‘This month more unemployed people moved into employment compared to a typical October," Crick said.
The source: Australian Bureau of Statistics media release
