Unemployment fell 0.1 percentage points in Western Australia in August to be 5.8 per cent, although the number of people employed full time fell by about 7,900.
Unemployment fell 0.1 percentage points in Western Australia in August to be 5.8 per cent, although the number of people employed full time fell by about 7,900.
Seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 915,000 people working full time in WA, although total employment rose 3,600 to be about 1.36 million.
Unemployment among men was 6 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points, and among women was up 0.1 percentage points to be 5.6 per cent.
Nationally, unemployment was up 0.1 percentage points to be 5.3 per cent, seasonally adjusted, with 34,700 jobs created in the month.
Commsec chief economist Craig James said unemployment rates varied across the country.
“Unemployment rates remain unacceptably high in South Australia (now over 7 per cent), WA, Queensland and Tasmania,” he said.
“And joblessness in Australia’s outback – afflicted by drought – remains a scourge.
“While a 35th consecutive month of jobs growth was posted, the underlying composition was broadly weak.
“The participation rate rose to fresh record highs of 66.2 per cent, pushing up the jobless rate, once again highlighting the challenges that policymakers have in engineering a tightening of Australia’s job market and lifting wages.
“Despite August’s reversal, almost 186,000 of the near 311,000 jobs added (nationally) over the past year have been full-time jobs, contrary to the often widely-held belief that the majority of jobs added are casual or part-time.
“In fact, analysis by Deloitte shows that 45 per cent of Aussies have been happily employed by their current employer for more than five years, despite technological disruption and the rise of the ‘gig’ economy.”
Indeed APAC economist Callam Pickering said employment growth was strong but there were other factors to consider.
“An additional 34,700 people found jobs in August and 310,700 over the past year,” he said.
“Yet that hasn’t been enough to bring down measures of unemployment.
“In fact, the unemployment rate has drifted to its highest level in twelve months.
“The reason is record participation in the Australian workforce.
“Normally the employment growth we have experienced over the past two years would have led to a sizable decline in the unemployment rate.
“These are not normal times.
“High population growth and rising participation has instead put upward pressure on measures of unemployment.
“Both the unemployment rate and underutilisation rate have drifted higher on a trend basis.”