Employment-to-population ratio up to 64.5% in Australia

Monthly hours worked increased 0.5 per cent in October 2023, similar to the employment growth of 0.4 per cent. However, the annual growth rate in hours worked had reduced to 1.7 per cent, down from around 5 per cent in the middle of the year, and less than the annual employment growth of 3.0 per cent, as per data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The underemployment rate remained at 6.3 per cent in October, in line with the updated figure for September. While this was 0.4 percentage points higher than October 2022, this was still around 2.4 percentage points lower than before the pandemic.

The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, rose 0.1 percentage point to 10.0 per cent. This was 0.7 percentage points higher than last October, but 3.9 percentage points lower than March 2020.

In October, the trend unemployment rate remained at 3.7 per cent, in line with the updated figure for September. Employment grew by around 28,000 people at 0.2 per cent and hours worked fell 0.1 per cent in October, in trend terms. Over the past year, employment has increased by 2.8 per cent and hours worked by 2.6 per cent.

The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.4 per cent, having been around 64.4 per cent or 64.5 per cent for the past 16 months. The participation rate dropped from 66.9 per cent to 66.8 per cent, and remained around the levels of the past nine months.

The underemployment rate remained at 6.4 per cent for the fifth straight month.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (NB)