The number of unemployed persons stood at 523,200

According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed to 3.7% last month, the highest it’s been since May of last year but still a decline of 0.5% from the same month last year.

The increase in the unemployment rate is 0.2% higher than the previous month’s rate of 3.5%.

The number of unemployed persons stood at 523,200, down 56,400 compared to the same period last year, but up by 21,900 from the previous month.

The state with the highest unemployment was Tasmania at 4.1%. Victoria, South Australia, and Northern Territory all recorded unemployment rates at 4%. The remaining states were below 4%.

Meanwhile the number of employed persons increased over the year by 394,100 at a rate of 3%. The number, however, declined by 11,500 persons, from 13.73 million to 13.72 million when compared to December 2022.

The number of monthly hours worked in all jobs was at 1.8 billion, up by 9.2% year-over-year, but down by 2.1% from the previous month.