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Hours worked 'bounces back' but unemployment rate stable

The unemployment rate remained unchanged in April, but the number of hours worked rebounded despite Omicron's disruption, according to today's ABS Labour Force figures.

Employment increased by 4,000 people (the sixth consecutive monthly rise) while the number of unemployment people fell by 11,000, says ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis.

"As a result, the unemployment rate decreased slightly in April, though remained level, in rounded terms, with the revised March rate of 3.9%."

The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 4% for males, which is the lowest level since October 2008. For the second month, the rate for females was 3.7% – the lowest since May 1974.

Although the participation rate fell 0.1 percentage points in April to 66.3%, it remains close to the historical highs in February and March...