The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent in February, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics said: “with employment increasing by around 65,000 people, and the number of unemployed decreasing by 17,000 people, the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent. This was back to the level we saw in December.
“The February increase in employment follows consecutive falls in December and January. In January, this reflected a larger than usual number of people waiting to start a new job, the majority of whom returned to or commenced their jobs in February.
“This was particularly evident in the South-East of Australia, with larger than seasonal numbers of people entering into employment across New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.”
With the higher than usual number of people transitioning into employment in February, the number of people indicating they were waiting to start a new job returned close to normal levels.
In line with the increase in employment, the employment to population ratio increased 0.2 percentage points to 64.3 per cent in February, back to the level in December 2022.
The participation rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 66.6 per cent in February, also back to the level in December 2022.