Unemployment rises to 5.6% in February

The ABS has released Australia’s labour force data for February, which recorded a 0.1% rise in headline unemployment and a 17,500 increase in jobs, with full-time employment up strongly.

Below is the summary data:

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 19,300 to 12,480,500.
• Unemployment increased 4,300 to 729,500.
• Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5%.
• Participation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 1.4 million hours (0.1%) to 1,730.3 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 17,500 to 12,480,500. Full-time employment increased 64,900 to 8,533,600 and part-time employment decreased 47,400 to 3,946,900.
• Unemployment increased 8,900 to 734,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 13,600 to 512,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 4,700 to 221,200.
• Unemployment rate increased by 0.1 pts to 5.6%
• Participation rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 65.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 21.2 million hours (1.2%) to 1,734.1 million hours.

LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE)

• Trend estimates: the labour force underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 8.3%. The underutilisation rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 13.8%.
• Seasonally adjusted estimates: the labour force underemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 8.4%. The underutilisation rate increased by 0.1 pts to 13.9%.

Detailed report to come.