Australian unemployment rate rises in April, labor underutilization reaches record high

Nearly one fifth of Australia’s labor force was unemployed or underemployed in April. The unemployment rate rose to 6.2 percent from March’s 5.2 percent. Market expectations were for the jobless rate to come in at 8.2 percent. Meanwhile, the underemployed rate came in at 13.7 percent. As anticipated, hours worked took a major hit, not only because of the loss of employment but also because of the 4.8 percent sequential fall in average monthly hours worked by those still employed. This drove the 4.9 percentage point rise in underemployment.

Employment recorded a fall of 594k, a fall of 4.9 percent sequentially in the month. Part-time employment dropped by 374k while full-time employment dropped 221k. The jobless rate would have risen further but for the 2.4 percentage point fall in the participation rate.

Nearly three out of every four people who were employed in March but not in April were considered “not in the labor force” in April. The 2.9 percentage point fall in the female participation rate was nearly 50 percent larger than the 1.9 percentage point fall for males, likely reflecting the greater burden of caring responsibilities that have fallen on women, said ANZ in a research report.

As anticipated, young people saw the largest fall in employment of nearly 11 percent, over twice of any other age group. However, a 5.6 percentage point fall in participation limited the rise in youth underutilization.

“We think the smaller than expected 1.0ppt rise in the unemployment rate masks a rise in shadow unemployment – those who want to work but are unavailable (eg due to caring responsibilities) or have not actively looked”, added ANZ.