Jobless numbers are heading north despite 38,000 new roles added in April
The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.1 per cent last month, up from 3.9 per cent in March, a figure that was revised upwards as well.
Jobless figures have slipped a little higher this month.. (File image).
About 38,000 jobs were added to the economy over the month and the number of unemployed increased by around 30,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the 30,000 people increase in unemployment reflected more people without jobs available and looking for work, as well as more people than usual waiting to start a new job.
Consensus forecasts were expecting employment to gain 23,700 and the unemployment rate to lift to 3.9 per cent.
Over the month, the participation rate increased to 66.7 per cent.
“The increases in both employment and unemployment in April saw the participation rate up by 0.1 percentage point to 66.7 per cent in April,” Mr Jarvis said.
The April jobs update from the bureau follows a prolonged run of below-average unemployment and robust jobs growth, which has been keeping pressure on the Reserve Bank as it tries to tame inflation.
