Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 pct: statistics

CANBERRA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Australia's unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday.

Despite a decrease of 53,000 in employment and a drop of 11,000 in the number of unemployed, the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent, said Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labor statistics.

The decline in employment in February was partly due to fewer older workers returning to work, with lower employment levels in the older age groups in February 2025 compared to 2024, Jarvis said.

This follows a trend of higher employment in these age groups in recent years, especially in 2024, along with growth in the employment-to-population ratio over the past few years, he said.

In contrast, there has been ongoing growth in employment for individuals aged 15 to 54 throughout the year, statistics show.

"While the employment-to-population ratio fell 0.4 percentage points to 64.1 percent in February, it is still only 0.4 points below its historical high in December, and around where it was in June 2024," Jarvis said.

The decline in both employed and unemployed individuals in February resulted in a 0.4 percentage point drop in the participation rate, bringing it to 66.8 percent, statistics show.

However, Jarvis noted that despite this decrease, the participation rate remains relatively high, having reached a historical peak last month, and is still 0.1 percentage points above the level from the same time last year. ■