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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.
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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.
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