Australia’s unemployment rate fell to just four per cent in February 2022. It has only been this low twice before in the history of the monthly series (which dates back to February 1978). To find a lower rate we have to look back to the early 1970s.
Both the participation rate and the employment to population ratio now stand at historic highs; the ABS industry vacancy rate recently hit a new record high of its own; and job ads are currently more than 46 per cent above their pre-pandemic levels. All of which indicates a rapidly tightening Australian labour market and the imminent possibility of an historically low unemployment rate.
Our updated labour market chart book reviews the February 2022 labour force report in detail and also includes a detailed look at the latest quarterly labour account numbers as well as recent data on job vacancies and job ads.