People walk past an office of a commercial bank in Sydney, Australia, July 4, 2023. (Photo by Hu Jingchen/Xinhua)
According to official labor force data for November published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the official unemployment rate increased from 3.8 percent in October to 3.9 percent, the highest figure since April 2022.
CANBERRA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia's unemployment rate has risen to an 18-month high despite a surge in jobs growth.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday published official labor force data for November, revealing the official unemployment rate increased from 3.8 percent in October to 3.9 percent.
It marks the highest figure since April 2022.
However, ABS data showed that the number of employed Australians increased by 61,000 between October and November.
A customer selects goods at a supermarket in Canberra, Australia, Nov. 29, 2023. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
That growth was offset by a rise in the participation rate, which measures the proportion of the working-age population who are either employed or actively looking for work, from 67 percent in October to a new record high of 67.2 percent.
In order to be counted towards the unemployment rate by the ABS, a person must be out of work and actively looking for a job.
The ABS estimates that 14.26 million Australians were in employment in November, representing 64.6 percent of the working-age population - an equal record high.
Despite the total number of employed Australians growing between October and November, the total number of hours worked by Australians in all jobs fell by 0.1 percent in the same period.
A man fills his car with petrol at a petrol station in Canberra, Australia, Nov. 29, 2023. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
"The recent slowdown in hours worked over the past six months continued into November, with the total number of hours worked now around where it had been back in May. However, this follows very strong growth during late 2022 and early 2023," Bjorn Jarvis, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said in a media release.
The underemployment rate, which measures the portion of employed people who are not working as many hours as they would like, rose from 6.3 percent to 6.5 percent between October and November.■
