Jobs growth: NSW leads way to lowest unemployment rate in 4.5 years
MORE than 61,000 jobs were created across the country last month as Australia’s unemployment rate plummeted to its lowest level in 4½ years.
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MORE than 61,000 jobs were created across the country last month as Australia’s unemployment rate plummeted to its lowest level in 4½ years.
Figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the jobless rate was just 5.4 per cent nationally — its lowest level since February 2013.
NSW created 28,500 of those jobs during November, while Victoria generated 32,900 and Western Australia 8500.
The 61,600 new jobs marked the biggest increase for any month in more than two years and was far higher than the 19,000 improvement the market had expected.
The spike means the national workforce has now grown by 383,000 in the past year, which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday equates to more than 1000 jobs per day or “... 1000 new opportunities for Australians seeking to get ahead to advance their dreams for themselves and their families”.
“The record job numbers today show more Australians have got a job, more have the confidence to be out looking for a job and more employers are investing and creating more jobs and hiring more workers,” Mr Turnbull said.
The figures also showed the participation rate, which measures the proportion of people in work or looking for work, jumped to its highest level in six years at 65.5 per cent.
The numbers also revealed the NSW unemployment rate is just 4.6 per cent, substantially lower than Victoria’s 5.5 per cent, Queensland’s 5.9 per cent, South Australia’s 6.1 per cent, Western Australia’s 6.6 per cent and Tasmania’s 5.8 per cent.
CommSec senior economist Ryan Felsman said the positive figures show the job market is continuing to improve, with unemployment slowly edging towards “full employment” — or an unemployment rate near 5 per cent.
“Jobs are being created, boosting spending power in the economy,” he said.
“But wage growth remains modest and elusive — although wages are still rising at a faster pace than prices.”
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