Australia’s labor market showed further signs of cooling in September as hiring momentum eased and the jobless rate climbed from 4.2% to 4.5%, the highest since November 2021. The unemployment rate figure exceeded expectations for 4.3%, driven by a 5.2% jump in the number of unemployed persons, equivalent to an increase of 33.9k people.
Total employment rose by 14.9k, undershooting forecasts of 20.0k. The breakdown showed full-time positions up 8.7k and part-time jobs rising 6.3k. Despite slower hiring, the participation rate edged up by 0.1% to 67.0%, indicating that more Australians are re-entering the labor force even as job creation moderates.
At the same time, monthly hours worked increased 0.5% mom, showing that those employed are still working longer hours on average, cushioning some of the weakness in headline employment figures.
