Roy Morgan unemployment down but not out

Roy Morgan’s April unemployment is out and shows its seasonal drop as the labour market begins to absorb the new entrants in recent graduates etc of the early months of the year:

April unemployment down, as Australians stop looking for work, and full-time jobs give way to part-time work.

In April 2013 an estimated 1.15 million Australians (9.3% of the workforce) were unemployed. This is down 1.5% from last month and is the lowest level of unemployment in Australia for nearly a year, since May 2012 (8.2%, 997,000).

The Australian workforce* was 12,437,000, (down from a record high in March) comprising 7,473,000 full-time workers (down 198,000); 3,810,000 part-time workers (up 206,000) and 1,154,000 looking for work (down 215,000) according to the Roy Morgan monthly employment estimates.

A further 1,100,000 Australians were under-employed – working part-time and looking for more work. This is 164,000 more than a month ago and represents 8.8% of the workforce* (up 1.4%).

An estimated 2.254 million Australians (18.1% of the workforce, down 0.1% from March) were unemployed or under-employed in April (51,000 less than last month), however this is up 95,000 (0.6%) over the past 12 months since April 2012.

In April an estimated 508,000 Australians (down 207,000) were looking for full-time work, while 646,000 (down 8,000) are now looking for part-time work.

The latest Roy Morgan unemployment estimate of 9.3% is still a substantial 3.7% more than currently quoted by the ABS for March 2013 (5.6%).

AS noted, this fall is seasonal. But it is also smaller and later than last year, so far. The ABS number is out later today.