In NSW the unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 3.7 per cent in February as the state economy rebounds following the omicron outbreak.
NSW recorded the lowest unemployment rate among the states and now sits well below the national unemployment rate of 4 per cent.
Treasurer Matt Kean said the unemployment rate is at a record low, more people are re-entering the workforce and there’s been a boost in hours worked across the state.
According to the ABS data employment increased by around 57,880 jobs and monthly hours worked rose by 14.3 per cent in February.
The NSW employment results were driven by a rise in full-time employment (+38,002) and an increase in part-time employment (+19,879). The NSW participation rate also rose by 0.5 percentage points to 65.4 per cent in February.
Employment in NSW is now 87,100 above its pre-COVID level.
Meanwhile, in Victoria the ABS reported that 16,500 extra jobs were created in February, boosting the total number of people in work across the state to 3.48 million.
Full-time roles increased by 410,000 with full-time jobs for women reaching a record of 901,000 in February.
Victoria’s participation rate increased to a record high in February, and there is now a higher proportion of Victorians with a job than ever before.
ABS data released this month confirmed the extent of Victoria’s economic recovery, in line with December’s Victorian budget update 2021-22 that predicted a strong reboot for the economy and jobs as the state got back to business.
State final demand grew faster than any other state last year. In the December quarter alone, state final demand grew by 3.7 per cent.
Retail trade figures showed a pick-up in consumer spending – in January the state’s retail trade increased by 2.5 per cent to $8.4 billion. Over the year to January, retail sales increased by 8.2 per cent in Victoria – well above the national increase of 6.4 per cent.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.0 per cent in February 2022, which is the lowest unemployment rate since August 2008.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said with employment increasing by 77,000 people and unemployment falling by 19,000, the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points, to 4.0 per cent.
“This is only the third time in the history of the monthly survey when unemployment was as low as 4.0 per cent (February 2008, August 2008, February 2022),” he said.
“The 3.8 per cent unemployment rate for women was the lowest since May 1974. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for men fell to 4.2 per cent, its second lowest level since November 2008 and just above the rate from December 2021 of 4.1 per cent.”
The national hours worked also increased for the fourth month in a row, by around 77,000 people (0.6 per cent) in February and was around 202,000 people (1.5 per cent) higher than the pre-delta period high of June 2021.
Seasonally adjusted hours worked rebounded in February by 8.9 per cent, following the large fall of 8.6 per cent in January, when an unseasonably high number of people were sick or on leave.
“While hours worked rebounded in February, they were still around 0.5 per cent below December, and also still slightly below (0.2 per cent) the pre-Delta period high of May 2021, reflecting a second month of impacts associated with the Omicron variant,” Mr Jarvis said.
However, there also continued to be a higher than usual number of people working reduced or no hours due to illness or sick leave.
“The number of employed people working no hours over the entire week due to illness or sick leave was around 80 per cent higher than what we would usually see in February, having been around triple the usual level in January,” Mr Jarvis said.
The participation rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 66.4 per cent, a record high.
“Participation rose to a new record high in February and was around 0.6 percentage points higher than the start of the pandemic,” Mr Jarvis said.
“The increase in participation continues to be particularly pronounced for women, rising 0.2 percentage points to a further record high of 62.4 per cent in February, and now 1.2 percentage points above the start of the pandemic.”
The underemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.6 per cent. This was 2.2 percentage points lower than March 2020 (8.8 per cent) and the lowest it had been since November 2008.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, dropped 0.3 percentage points to 10.6 per cent. This was 3.4 percentage points lower than its March 2020 level (14.1 per cent) and the lowest level since October 2008.
