Bjorn Jarvis, the head of labour statistics for the ABS, says there are a couple of reasons behind the unemployment rate rising slightly in June to 4.1%

“With employment rising by around 50,000 people and the number of unemployed growing by 10,000 people, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 per cent, and the participation rate rose to 66.9 per cent.”

“The participation rate in June was only 0.1 percentage point lower than the historical high of 67.0 per cent in November 2023.

“The employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.1 percentage point to 64.2 per cent, which was also close to its historical high of 64.4 per cent in November 2023.

“The employment-to-population ratio and participation rate both continue to be near their 2023 highs. This, along with the continued high level of job vacancies, suggests the labour market remains relatively tight, despite the unemployment rate being above 4.0 per cent since April.

“Unemployment rose 10,000 people in June, following a fall of 9,000 in May. While it has increased from a low of 491,000 people in October 2022 to 608,000 in June, it is still around 100,000 people or 14.2 per cent lower than just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The unemployment rate was 0.5 percentage points higher than June last year, and 1.1 percentage points lower than March 2020,” Mr Jarvis said.