JobKeeper Ends – But Labour Market Running on its Own Steam

The official ABS figures released this week show that Australia’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 per cent in April 2021.  The current 5.5 per cent unemployment rate compares with 6.4 per cent in April 2020 and the 7.5 per cent peak in unemployment during mid-2020. The ACT continues to enjoy Australia’s lowest unemployment rate (3.4 per cent), followed by the Northern Territory (3.8 per cent) and Western Australia (4.9 per cent).

The Australian economy created another 34,000 full-time jobs during April. This means that full-time employment has risen by 250,000 over the past 12 months.

State and territory highlights:

• Unemployment is now highest in Tasmania (6.2 per cent), followed by Queensland (6.1 per cent) and South Australia (5.7 per cent).
• South Australia saw the strongest gain in total employment during April 2021 (+1.8 per cent), followed by the NT and the ACT (both +1.4 per cent).
• South Australia experienced the biggest jump in full-time jobs during April (+2.3 per cent), followed by the NT (+1.4 per cent) and Queensland (+0.5 per cent).
• The largest falls in employment affected Western Australia (-1.0 per cent), NSW and Tasmania (both -0.9 per cent) during April.