"Contrary to the views of the doomsayers, the ABS labour force data released today point once again to the strong recovery of the Australian labour market. The number of people employed increased by more than 33,000 in the month bringing the increase since August last year to over 570,000. This is driving higher household incomes," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.
"Today's data is good news for those looking for work and continues a run of positive labour market numbers. This should be welcomed by the Government and by unions.
"While unemployment was up by 14,000 in the month, this was driven by more people entering the workforce as shown by the increase in the participation rate to 64.3%. This is fractionally below the record level of 64.4% set in June this year. Over the year unemployment has fallen by 132,500 and the rate of unemployment at 3.5% is considerably lower than the 4.6% recorded a year ago. Underemployment is also lower with the 5.9% rate last month comparing very favourably to the 9.3% recorded a year ago.
"While much of the fall in underemployment over the year is due to people converting from part-time to full-time employment, a distinct proportion is also due to the increase in the number of people with second jobs. Ai Group estimates that well over 10% of the fall in underemployment has been facilitated by the take up of second jobs. This also boosts household incomes.
"The strength of the jobs recovery is further underscored by the rapid growth in full-time positions which were 58,800 higher than in July, setting a new record of 9,468,500 full time jobs. Both male and female full-time jobs grew and both recorded their highest ever levels," Mr Willox said.
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