Meanwhile, overemployment has only improved slightly over the past year.
Australia’s unemployment rate rose up by up to 4.1% in March, up from 4% the previous month despite increasing 32,000 jobs.
According to new seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the increase was due to a significant increase in the number of people looking for jobs, and 3,000 Australians were counted as unemployed.
Monthly rises in unemployment rates could raise eyebrows just weeks after federal elections, but trend data shows that the labor market remains largely stable.
Employment shortage remains flat
Meanwhile, the employment rate has remained stable at 5.9%, continuing its downward trend, which has improved slightly since the pandemic.
Currently, it is 0.6 points lower than a year ago, and is almost three points below March 2020.
However, working hours in March fell 0.3%, marking the second consecutive month of decline.
Shawn Crick, ABS Director of Labor Statistics, said:
Chalmers says no to UP’s economy
Employment rates are a major election issue.
Related Stories
In a series of debates, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said unemployment rates have been low under labor, inflation has declined, real wages have risen, and interest rates have fallen.
“While our economy still has challenges and people are still under pressure, the government’s average unemployment rate has been at the lowest in the last 50 years.”
On March 24, 2025, Australian Secretary of Labor Treasury, a parliamentary home in Canberra, Australia. AAP Image/Lukas Coch
In response, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has repeatedly said that Australians will continue to retreat under Labour’s economic control.
“Whether it’s standard of living, productivity or real wages, if the workers’ plans continue, Australians will be poor for 10 years.”
Meanwhile, a recent report from recruitment platform JobAdder claims that job hunting has increased by 44% in job searches.
At the same time, job creation fell by 5.4% in 2024, with more candidates playing the same role.
For the last three months of 2024, recruiting institutions saw an average of 41 applicants per job, but the number of employment per agency fell 5.6%, marking the lowest point this year.
Jobadder CEO Martin Herbst focused on changes to his recruitment strategy.
“Recruiting is no longer about attracting candidates, but about identifying large volumes of management and quality talent. Agency needs to rethink their employment strategies to efficiently handle this evolving landscape,” he said.
