Key Points:

• Unemployment falls 0.1% to 3.9%
• 4,000 jobs created in last quarter, but unemployment fell by 11,000
• 7,000 people gave up looking for work this quarter, shown by the participation rate falling to 66.3% (from 66.4%)

“Today’s ABS statistics reveal that more people gave up looking for work than found a job in the last quarter, contributing the lion’s share of this minor drop in the headline unemployment rate,” said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at the Australia Institute.

“The unemployment rate is calculated based on the number of people looking for work and today’s 0.1% drop is largely comprised of the 7,000 who gave up looking, as opposed to the 4,000 who actually got a job.

“The unemployment rate is the tip of the economic iceberg. To get a full picture for how the economy and society are going, we need to look at all the statistics, including the participation rate, hours worked, security of employment and real wages growth.

“Today’s figures underscore the fact that low unemployment is not stimulating wage growth, and government intervention is required.”