The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the jobs market in Australia is thriving despite high interest rates and inflation. In fact, the number of women flooding into full-time work across the country has reached a record high.
The national unemployment rate was reported to remain steady at 3.5% in March, with 72,200 full-time jobs created in that month alone, following the addition of over 74,000 jobs in February. Women are driving the increase in full-time jobs, with almost half of the 470,000 full-time jobs created in the 12 months to March going to women.
The surge in women joining the full-time workforce is particularly evident in Victoria, where the number of women in full-time work increased by 10.4% over the past year, compared to a 4.9% increase among men. Meanwhile, in New South Wales, female full-time employment rose by 5.9%, compared to 4.4% among men.
Moreover, the jobless rate among women is now lower than the male jobless rate, with women experiencing a jobless rate of 3.4%, compared to men’s jobless rate of 3.7%. The participation rate of women and the proportion of working-age women in work are also at record highs.
These figures suggest that the Reserve Bank may consider resuming interest rate rises at its board meeting next month. Since May last year, the Reserve Bank has been lifting interest rates, and the job market has been so strong that it has absorbed almost all of the extra potential workers brought about by the increase in the working-age population of 481,500 over the past year.
The job market’s strength has led to a record 13.9 million Australians now holding down jobs, with the jobless rate 0.4 percentage points lower than when the Reserve Bank began lifting interest rates last year. Despite the positive outlook, the bank held the cash rate at 3.6% this month to determine the impact of its past 10 consecutive increases and to look for evidence of a slowdown in inflation pressures and strength in the jobs market.
In summary, the jobs market in Australia is in excellent condition, with a record number of women joining the full-time workforce, and the jobless rate continuing to decline.
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