Australia Releases Labour Force Figures, Unemployment Falls In May
Labour force figures released this morning by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 5.4 per cent in April to 5.2 per cent in May.
Today’s ABS figures show that 26,900 jobs were created last month taking the number of Australians in a job to 11.057 million.
Minister for Employment, Julia Gillard, said that this month’s figures had exceeded market expectations in almost every category and this was great news for working families for whom the best way to put food on the table and pay the rent or mortgage is a job.
She said that while the figures will continue to bounce around from month to month, the increase in the number of Australians in work is welcome.
The market expectation had been for unemployment to remain steady at 5.4 per cent and for 20,000 jobs to be created in May.
Full time employment rose by 36,400 to 7.780 million while part-time employment decreased 9,400 to 3.277 million showing a move away from simple substitution of part time with full time jobs.
The average number of monthly hours worked increased by 2.9 per cent or 43.9 million hours.
Unemployment remains high in other comparable advanced economies with an unemployment rate of 9.7 per cent in the US, 10.1 per cent in France, 8.8 per cent in Italy and 8.2 per cent in Canada.
Ms Gillard said that while today’s ABS figures confirmed Australia’s strong economic position, there is still a real need for caution with 600,900 Australians remaining out of work.
The participation rate dropped slightly by 0.2 per cent to 65.1 per cent.
The Government’s top priority is to keep Australians in work which is why our stimulus measures continue to be vitally important. The gradual withdrawal of stimulus will keep supporting Australian jobs and businesses as the global recovery continues.
Across the country the unemployment rate fell in NSW, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory.
The rate remained steady in ACT and Tasmania, only rising slightly in Victoria.
Topics: 2010, act, business, census, demographics, economic development, economic growth, Economy, employment, full time, Governance, government, investment, jobs, Julia Gillard, labor force, labour force, mode of transport, moniter, monitor, news, Northern Territory, NSW, part time, planning, policy, population, Queensland, religion, school, society, South Australia, survey, Tasmania, unemployment, Victoria, Western Australia, work, workforce, working families
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