Unemployment rate rises to 3.7%

The news: The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in October, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The numbers: The jobless rate of 3.7% was slightly up from 3.6% in last month. Employment increased by 55,000 people, while the number of unemployed people jumped by 28,000. The unemployment rate is now hovering where it was in July and August. The underemployment rate remained at 6.4% for the fifth straight month.

The context: The jobs market has held up well as economic activity starts to wind back, though slackness is starting to emerge as a consequence of higher interest rates.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expecting the unemployment rate to average around 3.8 per cent in the December quarter before drifting up gradually to 4.3 per cent by mid 2025.