The trend unemployment rate decreased from 5.4 per cent to 5.3 per cent in the month of August 2018, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman said that "since last August, the trend unemployment and underemployment rates have both fallen. As a result, underutilisation in Australia was at its lowest level since late 2013, at 13.6 per cent." Employment and hours Trend employment increased by around 29,000 persons in August 2018 with full-time employment increasing by around 21,000 persons. The trend participation rate remained ... (full story)

Australian employment data for August comfortably beat expectations, with 44,000 jobs added in seasonally adjusted terms against a forecast gain of 18,000. The participation rate edged higher by 0.1 percentage points to 65.7%, which meant the unemployment rate held steady at 5.3%. Gains were driven by another increase in full-time employment, which rose by 33,700 in seasonally adjusted terms. The Australian dollar pushed back towards US72 cents immediately following the release, a gain of around 0.4%. August’s increase left the total number of employed persons at 12.631 million, a new record high. Today’s result ... (full story)