The unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to 3.9 per cent in November (seasonally adjusted), up from a revised 3.8 per cent in October, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS said: “With employment increasing by 61,000 people, and the number of unemployed people rising by 19,000, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 per cent in November.
“The combination of strong growth in both employment and unemployment in November saw the employment-to-population ratio return to a record high of 64.6 per cent and the participation rate reach a new high of 67.2 per cent.
“We have continued to see employment growth keeping pace with high population growth through 2023. The employment-to-population ratio has been high for a long time now, between 64.4 per cent and 64.6 per cent since February 2023, and between 64.3 per cent and 64.6 per cent for the past 18 months.
“Similarly, participation continues to be high. In addition to strong employment growth over the past year, the number of unemployed people has also increased by around 81,000 people, and the unemployment rate has risen by 0.4 percentage points. However, both unemployment measures remain well below their pre-pandemic levels.”
At this point just note that from September 2023, the ABS sample frame has been updated with information from the 2021 Census, with sample selection from the new sample being phased in over eight months from September 2023 to April 2024.
And specifically, The ABS has revised the original Labour Force series from July 2016 to reflect the latest estimated resident population (ERP) based on the 2021 Census (final rebased ERP). So the usual resident civilian population in October 2023 was revised up by around 0.2% (around 37,200 people).
To add to the data tweaks, the incoming November sample had a higher unemployment rate and higher participation, which also helps to explain some of the slightly weird movements this month.
This helps to explain why while employment growth continued into November 2023, rising by 0.4 per cent, monthly hours worked rose by less than 0.1 per cent.
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