Unemployment at half-century low
Employment growth in Queensland may have been negatively impacted by flooding in April.
But New South Wales has added a massive 122,000 jobs over the past year, taking the state's unemployment rate to a series record low of 3½ per cent.
Total employment increased 2.9 per cent over the year, significantly outpacing growth in the labour force of 1.2 per cent.
Although monthly employment growth was only 4,000, full-time jobs surged +92,400 higher to a record high, so it was a better result than it looked.
As a result, the unemployment rate has fallen to a 48-year low of 3.9 per cent, which is a godsend for the Coalition going into Federal election polling day.
Zooming in the graph, the unemployment rate ticked down from 3.93 per cent to 3.85 per cent in April, which is the lowest level since 1974 (when the annual inflation rate was above 15 per cent by the way).
Hours worked were up 2.8 per cent from a year earlier, and hit a record high of 1.83 million.
Overall, strong figures still, and job vacancies suggest the unemployment rate can still go lower from here, although wages growth is still weak.
Meanwhile, things are still fraying at the seams in the construction sector, with the nation's largest homebuilder suffering the untimely passing of its founder this week, and most of the major media outlets reporting on insolvency and collapse rumours.
---
Detailed analysis from James Foster here.
