Employment dives again
Employment fell by another 138,000 in September to 12,844,600, which is a cumulative drop of 281,000 since the June peak.
The decline was again driven by New South Wales, with another 37,000 decline.
Since May employment in New South Wales has crashed by 244,000, although this figure should rebound quite quickly on the reopening.
The unemployment rate only increased marginally to 4.6 per cent, although this may be a somewhat artificial result.
After all, the participation rate slumped sharply by 0.7 points to 64.5 per cent.
The wrap
It feels like there is a wide range of uncertainties about what might or might not happen next.
The labour market could suddenly become very tight as the economy reopens.
Indeed, the skilled labour market is already tight in Queensland - and some other parts of the country - with a pipeline of resources projects getting underway.
But on the other hand there is talk of bringing in two million new immigrants over the next five years, which could obviously create a different dynamic over time.
Following data and news from around the world, including the UK, there are some very unusual and confusing charts and trends happening right now, and the picture will probably only become clearer next year.
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You can get all the finer details from data king James Foster here.
