Australia's unemployment rate remains steady in 'tight' job market
Australia's unemployment rate remained steady in December 2023 as the country continues to endure a "tight" labour market.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.9 per cent in December, despite employment dropping by 65,000 people.
There was only a small material fall in the number of unemployed people, dropping by 1000.
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There was only a small material fall in the number of unemployed people, dropping by 1000. Nikki Short/The Sydney Morning Herald
David Taylor, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said the figures reflected a largely traditional seasonal change heading into Christmas.
"The strength in employment in October and November and the fall in December, reflected changes in the timing of employment growth in the last few months of 2023, compared with earlier years," he said.
"While the December employment fall was large, the number of employed people was still 52,000 higher than September.
"Looking over the past twelve months, seasonally adjusted employment increased by an average of 32,000 people per month, showing reasonably strong underlying growth during 2023.
"Both the unemployment and underemployment rates remained relatively low and the participation rate and employment-to-population ratio relatively high, suggesting that the labour market remains tight."
More to come.
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