Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged up to 4.1% in March, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.
“With employment increasing by 32,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 3,000 people, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1% for March,” said Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics.
The rise marks a slight increase from February’s 4.0% reading, though it remained marginally below market expectations of 4.2%.
Despite the increase in employment, total hours worked fell by 0.3% - marking the second consecutive monthly decline. Crick attributed this drop to unusual weather disruptions: "A higher than usual number of people reported working reduced hours this month due to bad weather, coinciding with ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and other major weather events in New South Wales and Queensland."
The participation rate ticked up to 66.8% in March, while the employment-to-population ratio held steady at 64.1%, suggesting the broader labour force continues to expand even amid shifting conditions.
Meanwhile, ahead of its 19-20 May meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia are set to receive one more employment report and the closely watched quarterly inflation data before delivering their interest rate decision.
As of the 16 April, ASX's RBA Rate Tracker showed a 70% probability of a rate cut to 3.60% at the upcoming RBA meeting.
