Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.6% in September 2021, down 2.2% when compared to September 2020, according to data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics.

When compared to the previous month, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly by 0.1%.

Australia’s JobKeeper Payment programme — its Covid-19 stimulus jobs package — ended on 28 March 2021.

The number of unemployed people decreased by 299,800 to a total of 626,000 in September.

“The low national unemployment rate continues to reflect reduced participation during the recent lockdowns, rather than strong labour market conditions,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.

The youth unemployment rate in Australia stood at 10.8%.

Meanwhile, in seasonally adjusted terms, in September 2021 employment increased by 303,500 people to some 12.8 million people.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs totalled 1.72 million, up 2.3% over the same period last year.