Unemployment jumps by more than expected, dampening chance of interest rate hike
Australia's unemployment rate rose by 0.2 per cent in April, a higher-than-expected jump that brings it back to the level seen in January and reduces the chance of the Reserve Bank increasing interest rates again.
The jobless rate rose to 4.1 per cent in April, the ABS announced today, up from a revised 3.9 per cent in March (it had previously been measured at 3.8 per cent for that month).
The market had been expecting a rise of 0.1 per cent.
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Australia's unemployment rate rose by 0.2 per cent in April, a higher-than-expected jump that brings it back to the level seen in January. Supplied
After two months of better-than-expected jobless figures, April's increase brings it to within touching distance of the RBA's mid-year unemployment forecast of 4.2 per cent, reducing the chance it RBA moves to increase interest rates for a 14th time.
While the overall unemployment rate rose, the economy actually added about 8000 more jobs than it lost last month.
"With employment rising by around 38,000 people and the number of unemployed growing by 30,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 4.1 per cent and the participation rate increased to 66.7 per cent," ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.
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"The 30,000-people increase in unemployment reflected more people without jobs available and looking for work, and also more people than usual indicating that they had a job that they were waiting to start in.
"The increases in both employment and unemployment in April saw the participation rate up by 0.1 percentage point to 66.7 per cent in April. It has been relatively high, above 66.5 per cent, since March 2023.
"The employment-to-population ratio remained steady at 64.0 per cent in April, indicating that recent employment growth is broadly keeping pace with population growth.
"This suggests that the labour market remains tight, though less tight than late 2022 and early 2023."
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