Unemployment rate steady at 4.1% in February
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The news: Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% in February, matching estimates.
The numbers: Employment fell by 53,000 people and the number of unemployed decreased by 11,000 people, keeping the unemployment rate steady, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Despite the fall in employment in February, in seasonally adjusted terms it was still around 266,000 people — or 1.9% — higher than last February. This annual growth rate is around the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 2%.
While the employment-to-population ratio fell 0.4 percentage points to 64.1% in February, it is still only 0.4 points below its historical high in December, and around where it was in June 2024, the ABS said.
The context: ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis noted that a fall in employment in February was driven by fewer older workers returning to work, with lower levels of employment in the older groups compared to a year earlier.
The trend followed higher levels of employment in these age groups in recent years, particularly in 2024, alongside growth in the employment-to-population ratio over the last few years.
In contrast, the ABS has observed continued growth in employment for people aged between 15 and 54 across the year, Jarvis said.
The source: ABS
