Labour market set to tighten
Any number of indicators have pointed to an improving labour market, from jobs vacancies, to NAB's business surveys, to the Roy Morgan measure of unemployment.
The ABS survey went some of the way to bridging this gap in March, recording year-on-year employment growth of 146,000 or about 1.23 per cent.
The minor glitch in last month's detailed figures was fixed, leading to a total labour force of 12.069 million in original terms.
Is this another sign of an improving labour market?
Let's hope so.
Employment growth has begin to pick up again in Sydney after the boom of 2015, with the harbour city adding 33,000 jobs over the past year.
Melbourne remains the king of employment growth, however, adding 75,000 jobs over the year on a net basis, while regional Victoria added net new employment of 21,000.
Unemployment rates
Over the year to March, Greater Sydney had an average unemployment rate of just 4.86 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum the unemployment rate in Adelaide averaged 7 per cent.
Hobart's economy is improving, with the unemployment rate now set to go into an impressive downtrend.
In Perth the labour market and unemployment rate have been deteriorating since January 2013, and this still continues.
Searching...
It was comparatively easy to find full time work in Australia before the financial crisis.
In the financial services sector a skills shortage meant it was possible to have multiple job offers on the table for prospective employees to choose from.
Today, on average, it is not so easy to find gainful employment, although job search conditions have been nowhere near as bad as they were following the last recession.
At the city level it is becoming easier to find work in Hobart, which has the most improved labour market in the country right now.
The wrap
The March labour force figures were strong, although in absolute terms the new employment has been heavily weighted towards Melbourne and Sydney.
