Australia unemployment rate rises to 4.7% in September

• The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in September.
• Total employment fell by 39,000 people as part-time work declined.
• The Australian Bureau of Statistics noted a higher proportion of people remained unemployed compared to recent years.

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached 4.7% in September as the economy shed 39,000 jobs, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The decline follows a drop in the employment-to-population ratio, which fell 0.3 percentage points to 63.6% after last month showed more people entering the workforce without finding jobs.

"This month there were 39,000 less employed people and 9,000 more unemployed people," said ABS Head of Labour Statistics Sean Crick.

Part-time hours worked dropped by 1.5% over the month, while full-time hours worked increased by 0.4% to keep overall annual growth aligned at 1.2%.

The broader labour market conditions will depend on whether underlying employment trends hold steady over the coming quarters.

Despite the monthly shifts in seasonally adjusted data, the trend unemployment rate remained stable at 4.6%.

The ABS noted that recent survey methodology changes may have a small residual effect on September figures, making trend data the most reliable measure of underlying conditions.