Roy Morgan Research has released its labour force estimates for February, which reports that the number of Australians employed (12.7 million) has basically returned to its pre-COVID level in early March.
However, because workforce participation is also at a record high 14.6 million, Australia’s unemployment rate increased by 1.5% to 13.2% in February; although underutilisation (i.e. unemployment and underemployment combined) fell 0.7% to 21.0%:
Record high labour force participation has driven unemployment up, despite jobs returning to pre-COVID levels.
