Jobs for all!
It looks like all those job vacancies are now being filled!
The June labour force figures saw an outstanding increase of 88,400 to employment, to a record high of 13.6 million, again driven by full-time roles.
The past year has been a real rollercoaster ride, but over the last 12 months the increase in employment has been a very solid 3¼ per cent.
Queensland led the way with a massive +4.6 per cent increase in employed persons, equating to an increase in employment of +123,000, with New South Wales also looking very strong.
The labour force, meanwhile, has only increased by 1.8 per cent over the past year, despite a record high participation rate of 66.8 per cent, driven by an increasing share of females seeking employment.
This sent the unemployment rate plummeting to just 3½ per cent.
Zooming in the unemployment rate dropped sharply from 3.90 per cent to 3.50 per cent in June, which is the lowest figure since the monthly data series began in 1974.
This drop was correctly anticipated by the ABS job vacancies and labour force figures, and indeed it's possible that an ever lower result could yet be posted.
In saying that, SEEK's job ads figures are now in decline, and building and construction firms are going bust left, right, and centre, so as some point we'll see these excellent figures going into reverse gear.
Hours worked in June were only flat, in part due to staff absences.
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Detailed analysis as always from James Foster here.
