Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in March, down by 0.4% when compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

When compared to February 2023, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged.

In March 2023, the number of unemployed persons totalled 507,000, down by 41,400 when compared to the previous year and down by 1,600 compared to the previous month.

By state, Tasmania saw the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 4.0% while the Australian Capital Territory had the lowest at 2.8%.

Meanwhile, the number of employed persons stood at 13,884,400, up by 437,700 over the year and up by 53,000 over the month.

The employment to population ratio increased over the month by 0.1% to 64.4%.

Australia’s labour force participation rate stood at 66.7%, up 0.4% over the year and 0.1% over the month.

Lauren Ford, ABS head of labour statistics said, "With employment increasing by around 53,000 people, and the number of unemployed decreasing by 1,600 people, the unemployment rate remained at a near 50-year low of 3.5%.”

“In line with the increase in employment, the employment-to-population ratio increased 0.1% to 64.4%, with the participation rate remaining at 66.7%,” Ford added. “Both indicators were close to their historical highs in November 2022, reflecting a tight labour market and explaining why employers are finding it hard to fill the high number of job vacancies.”

In terms of monthly hours worked, March saw a total of 1.91 billion hours worked in March 2023, up 5.5% over the year and down 0.2% over the month.

“Over the past 12 months, hours worked has increased 5.5%, outpacing the 3.3% increase in employment,” Ford said. “Since March 2020, hours worked have increased 8.4%, compared to a 7.0% increase in employment. The strength in hours worked relative to employment shows the high level of demand for labour, to some extent, is being absorbed by people working more hours.”