The Australian unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.5 percent in August from July’s 48-year-low of 3.4 percent. However, it was still well below the full employment threshold.
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there was a significant lift in employment in August as 33,500 jobs were added to the labour market compared to the unexpected 41,000 drop in July.
“With employment increasing by 33,000 people and unemployment by 14,000, the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 3.5 percent in August, returning to the same rate as June,” ABS’s head of labour statistics Lauren Ford said.
While the participation rate climbed 0.2 percent to 66.6 percent in August, the underemployment rate slipped 0.1 percent to 5.9 percent….