Australia’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 4.6% in August

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on September 24 that Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in August. The number of unemployed people increased by 28,200 to 722,900, while employment grew by 39,500 to 14,836,600 as part-time work rose by 45,800 and full-time employment fell by 6,300. The participation rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 67.1 percent, and monthly hours worked increased by 14 million to 2,009 million after falling by the same amount in July. Sean Crick, the bureau's head of labour statistics, said a higher proportion of people previously outside the labour force moved into unemployment than in recent years.