Bumper jobs growth continues through September

Australia’s labour market continued to display remarkable resilience last month as the proportion of people in work or searching for a job hit a fresh record.

Fresh jobs figures were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Australia’s labour market continued to display remarkable resilience through September with the proportion of people in work or searching for a job rising to a record high.

The economy added 64,100 jobs last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday, significantly more than the 25,000 economists expected. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 per cent, below analysts’ estimates of 4.2 per cent.

Thursday’s jobs report adds further evidence to the widely held view among investors and most economists that the Reserve Bank will not reduce interest rates this year, instead, opening the door to a quarter point cut at its first meeting of 2025, scheduled for February.

Jim Chalmers welcomed the employment data. “This is the first and only time any government of any political persuasion has overseen the creation of a million new jobs in a single parliamentary term,” the Treasurer said.

“More than a million new jobs in one parliamentary term is a pretty remarkable achievement in a slowing economy and it means more new jobs have been created on our watch than any other government at any time.

“We welcome the fact that the majority of these million new jobs are full time and around half are for women.

“We’re all about more people working, earning more and keeping more of what they earn and this shows we’re making good progress.

“It’s a tribute to our workers and employers, and it justifies the responsible way we’re managing the economy.”

The government has long been waiting to pass the one million jobs mark.

The RBA is trying to engineer a so-called “soft landing”, that is a return of inflation to its 2 to 3 per cent target band, without causing an economic downturn and a major deterioration of the jobs market. While just one data point, the ABS figures suggest the economy is charting that path.

According to its own staff forecasts released in August, the RBA projects the unemployment rate to rise to 4.3 per cent by year’s end. From there, it estimates the key jobless measure will inch higher to 4.4 per cent by mid-2025.

Further indicating strength in the jobs market was the participation rate - the share of Australia’s working-age population employed or looking for a job – which rose to reset its record at 67.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the underemployment rate - which measures the share of people in work but looking for additional hours - dipped to 6.3 per cent, down from 6.5 per cent in August, according to the seasonally adjusted figures.

Amid strong population, predominantly fueled by surging ­migration, 39,000 new jobs need to be created every month to keep the unemployment and participation rate stable.

After resetting its record high in early trading on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index pared back its early gains in response to the jobs figures, dropping 21 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8353.4 points.