CANBERRA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Australia's unemployment rate rose to the highest level in almost four years in September, according to official data published on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The monthly ABS labor force data said that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in September, the highest figure since November 2021.
The unemployment rate for August was revised upwards to 4.3 percent on Thursday from the 4.2 percent initially reported by the ABS in September.
Australia's central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, said in forecasts released in August that it expected the unemployment rate to stabilize at around 4.3 percent through 2026 and 2027.
According to the ABS, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of unemployed Australians increased by 33,900 or 5.2 percent between August and September, offsetting a rise in the number of employed Australians of 14,900 in the same period.
Sean Crick, head of labor statistics at the ABS, said that the labor force participation rate among working-age Australians rose as a result to 67.0 percent in September, just below the record-high 67.2 percent set in January.
The total number of hours worked by Australians was 0.5 percent higher in September than in August. ■