“The last time the unemployment rate was lower than this was in August 1974,when the survey was quarterly,” he said.
Seasonally adjusted work hours increased by 1.3 per cent in April,driven by a slight bounce back in NSW and Queensland following the floods in March.
“The number of people working fewer hours than usual due to bad weather dropped from its March peak of over 500,000 to around 70,000 people in April,” Jarvis said.
Western Australia boasted the lowest state or territory unemployment rate,at 2.9 per cent,followed by the ACT at 3.1 per cent,and NSW with 3.5 per cent.
Tasmania’s unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent,and the Northern Territory’s unemployment rate was 4.1 per cent.
Victoria had one of the highest state unemployment rates of 4.2 per cent in April,while Queensland and South Australia had the equal highest unemployment rates of 4.5 per cent.
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The impacts of Covid are evident in the figures.
Across NSW,Victoria and Queensland,5.1 per cent of people worked fewer hours than usual due to illness. It was the first increase for these states since a surge in January as Covid swept through these states.
Across the other states and territories,a record 6.9 per cent were affected by sickness.
Both the federal Treasury and the Reserve Bank are forecasting unemployment to go even lower by the end of the year.
Speaking before the latest figures were released,Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a low unemployment rate was vital for the economy.
“People being in jobs is the most important thing that[the] economy needs,” Morrison said while campaigning in Tasmania. “If you don’t have a job,you don’t have choices.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese,also speaking ahead of the release of the figures,said while he welcomed lower unemployment figures,most people were thinking about how they could afford essentials with a record gap between wage growth and inflation.
“People are really doing it tough,that’s what I’m hearing,” he said.