ABS: Jobs up, unemployment down in December

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The ABS has released its labour market report for December, which shows a strong increase in jobs as well as a 0.2% decline in the headline unemployment rate to 6.6%:

Key statistics

Seasonally adjusted estimates for December 2020:

  • Unemployment rate decreased to 6.6%.
  • Participation rate increased to 66.2%.
  • Employment increased to 12,910,800.
  • Employment to population ratio increased to 61.8%.
  • Underemployment rate decreased to 8.5%.
  • Monthly hours worked increased by 2 million hours.

The number of people employed has almost caught up with pre-COVID levels:

As have hours worked:

Although unemployment remains elevated; albeit much improved from the peak in July:

I’ll be back later with the detailed monthly report.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.