01 May Tightening labour market highlights skills shortage
The national unemployment rate fell from 4.1% in January to 3.7% in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, after a sharp fall in the number of jobless workers.
The number of workers out of employment fell from 600,200 to 548,300, a reduction of 8.7%.
At the same time, the number of workers without a job rose from 14,153,100 to 14,269,600, an increase of 0.8%.
Collectively, an extra 168,500 people found work between January and February.
As a result, the number of hours worked by the labour market rose from 1.879 billion to 1.933 billion, an increase of 2.8%.
Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Andrew McKellar said the strong labour market highlighted the country’s skill shortages.
“Job vacancies remain at almost double their pre-COVID levels, with employers continuing their struggle to find people with the right skills to fill unfilled positions,” Mr McKellar said.
“The return to work in February is welcome and highlights the continuing need to address skills shortages and ensure that employers have access to employees with the necessary training and experience to fill vacant positions.”