Australia’s unemployment rate has climbed up, with the economy laying off thousands from various jobs.
According to labor force data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point (rounded) to 3.7 percent in April.
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labor statistics, said that with employment dropping by around 4,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 18,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent.
Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the jobs market was still strong.
“We have expected for some time that the unemployment rate will tick up a bit, as a consequence of higher interest rates combined with some pretty serious global uncertainty,” he told reporters.
“My job is to hand down the responsible budget that we handed down last week, which is all about dealing with these inflationary pressures, which is still the defining challenge in our economy, at the same time as we lay the foundations for future growth in our industries.”
Forecasts included in the federal budget for 2023-24 projected that unemployment would be around 3.5 percent through June before rising to 4.25 percent by mid-2024.
Despite the fall in employment, Australians worked more hours in April than in March by 2.6 percent. Jarvis said it was a result of fewer people taking time off over the Easter period.
“This may reflect more people taking their leave earlier or later than usual, or that some people were unable to, given the high number of vacancies that we’re still seeing employers reporting,” he said.
“The ongoing strength in hours worked over the past six months shows the demand for labor, to some extent, is being met by people working more hours.”