Record jobs growth needed to stop unemployment rising

Friday 17 March 2023

Australia’s official unemployment rate in February declined back to 3.5% on a strong 64,600 increase in jobs:

Immigration is returning with gusto to Australia, with 303,700 net overseas migrants entering Australia in the year to September – way above federal budget forecasts (235,000) and the second biggest figure on record (chart below from Alex Joiner):

This surge in net overseas migration has seen Australia’s labour supply rapidly catch-up with the pre-Covid trend:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.