The number of fully employed persons in Australia grew for the 10th consecutive month, while Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1 percent in June.
In statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced today the number of people employed increased by 45,900 people to 11.100 million, seasonally adjusted, in June.
The rise in employment was driven by a rise in part-time employment, up 27,500 people to 3.306 million. This was reinforced by a rise in full-time employment, up 18,400 people to 7.795 million. The number of people unemployed decreased in June, down 200 people to 598,400, the ABS reported.
The ABS reported the participation rate in June increased 0.1 percentage point to 65.2 percent which explains why while the total number of employed grew by almost 40,000, the total unemployed fell by only 200 from June from May .
Matthew Tukaki, the former Head of Drake Australia and current CEO of SansGov, has welcomed the stabilisation in the unemployment rate and has indicated that we can expect further consistency in the actual numbers over the course of the next quarter.
“over the past 18 months a range of measures have been put in place by business and Government to manage the economy through the financial crisis – these measures have allowed Australia to manage unemployment quite successfully” he said.
“In Sydney, commercial property demand in the CBD has increased which gives an indication that business is willing to take a punt in terms of accommodation and certainly there are signs that the IT&T sector is starting to recover thanks to both the new financial year, where projects are generally funded with a little more confidence, and an increase of movement in the contractor market.” Mr Tukaki has said.
Mr Tukaki has also said with an election looming there is an opportunity to address the medium to long term issues connected with the long term unemployed in the same way the electorate will expect issues such as homelessness, mental illness and indigenous wellbeing to be addressed – all of which are interconnected elements of the long term unemployment figures.