Australia’s jobless rate climbs to 4.5%

Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed the number of employed people fell 19,000, while the number of unemployed people rose 33,000. 

Of those who joined the market in April, 11,000 were looking for full-time work and 22,000 jobseekers were targeting part-time work. 

April figures overshot market expectations, with economists expecting the unemployment rate to hold at 4.3%, unchanged from March. 

“Compared to what we usually see in April, more people remained unemployed this month,” ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said. 

Economists had expected around 15,000 jobs to be created in April, below the typical monthly increase of roughly 30,000.

A fall in female employment drove the overall decline, with full-time employment down 19,000 and part-time employment falling by 13,000.

“This is the first fall in female employment since August 2025,” Mr Crick said. 

Employees working longer hours

Despite the fall in employment, hours worked rose by 15.8 million hours in April, according to ABS. 

This translates to a 0.8% increase in monthly hours worked in all jobs, which is stronger than the 0.1% fall in employment. 

Individually, Mr Crick said each employed individual put in more time, working an additional 0.9% hours. 

This suggests people who remained employed worked more shifts, overtime, or full-time instead of part-time. 

Meanwhile, the participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 66.7%. 

The participation rate measures the percentage of working-age people currently employed or actively looking for work. 

Is the labour market cooling? 

The RBA, in its latest Statement on Monetary Policy (SMP), forecasts Australia’s labour market to remain tight in the near term, with Q2 average unemployment rate of 4.2%. 

April’s rise in unemployment signals some early signs of cooling. 

However, the increase in total hours worked suggests the labour market may not have weakened as much as the drop in employment implies.

This could mean employers still need labour, but instead of hiring aggressively, they may be stretching existing workers. 

The RBA earlier said the ongoing Middle East conflict “has had little effect on labour demand so far”, but noted some indicators point to a potential softening. 

“Unemployment expectations spiked in April and employment intentions from the RBA’s liaison program have also decreased, particularly in recent weeks, with a smaller share of firms expecting to increase their workforce over the year ahead,” the RBA said. 

“Some firms have indicated they are considering how their hiring plans could change if the effects of the conflict are prolonged.”