- Unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in February.
- There were 35,000 more Australians out of work while 49,000 landed jobs, mostly in part-time roles.
- Hours worked declined as more workers took on reduced hours, despite overall job gains.
- ABS will be rolling out a mobile-friendly digital system for its labour force survey in April.
Fresh labour force figures show the number of unemployed people rose by 35,000, bringing the total to more than 659,000 nationwide.
The uptick translated into a 0.2‑percentage‑point lift in the jobless rate, bucking analyst expectations that it would hold steady at January’s 4.1%.
ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said more people remained unemployed this February than in recent years.
There were more than 49,000 Australians who landed jobs by the end of February, likewise exceeding market estimates of around 20,000 new jobs.
With more Australians either working or seeking work, the participation rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 66.9%.
According to ABS, February participation rate figures are one of the highest levels in record.
The participation rate measures the proportion of people currently employed or actively looking for work, which, unlike the unemployment rate, also takes into account those who have given up looking for work.
The increase in the unemployment rate could suggest to the RBA that the labour market is finally easing, reducing concerns that excessive tightness has been adding to inflation.
Economists had earlier warned that a 4.1% unemployment rate was unlikely to meaningfully alleviate those concerns.
“Given the RBA’s focus on limited spare capacity and labour market tightness, a 4.2% outturn would ease concern the labour market may be tighter still than the RBA’s February assessment,” NAB senior markets strategist Gavin Friend said.
In its recent decision to raise the cash rate to 4.10%, the RBA Board cited stronger‑than‑expected labour market conditions and low underutilisation as key concerns.
“While part of the pick-up in inflation is assessed to reflect temporary factors, the Board judged that the labour market has tightened a little recently and capacity pressures are slightly greater than previously assessed,” the Board said.
Hours worked fall as part-time roles rise
Hours worked dropped 0.2% in February to 2,007 million, as more workers take on reduced hours despite overall job gains.
Part-timers rose by 79,000 last month, driven largely by older people working part-time and delaying retirement.
“This month we saw more people move into part-time employment, particularly those aged 65 and over,” Mr Crick said.
“Additionally, this month we saw that fewer people are leaving jobs to retire compared to a year ago.”
Meanwhile, full‑time positions fell by 30,000.
In trend terms, the part-time share of employment is now at 31.2%.
ABS prepares for major survey transition
Coinciding with the February jobs release, the ABS announced it will roll out a major modernisation of its labour force survey in a bid to improve data quality.
Beginning April, the ABS will introduce a new digital system that allows respondents to complete the survey on any mobile device, after simplifying questions and removing duplication to streamline the process.
“The transition to our new system… will give survey participants a modern, easy and secure way to complete the Labour Force Survey,” Mr Crick said.
The upgrade forms part of the ABS Data Acquisition Modernisation Program, and will be implemented progressively over five months.