Australia's unemployment rate remained unchanged at near a 50-year low in March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
The jobless rate held steady at 3.5 percent in March. This was slightly below economists' forecast of 3.6 percent.
The number of unemployed decreased 1,600 from the previous month to 507,000. At the same time, employment increased by 53,000 to 13.88 million.
The employment-to-population ratio and the participation rate were close to their historical highs in November 2022, reflecting a tight labor market and explaining why employers are finding it hard to fill the high number of job vacancies, ABS head of labour statistics Lauren Ford said.
Further, data showed that monthly hours worked decreased 0.2 percent in March, following an increase of 3.8 percent in February.
"The strength in hours worked relative to employment shows the high level of demand for labour, to some extent, is being absorbed by people working more hours," Ford said.
The strength in labour market data will probably prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia to deliver a final 25 basis point rate hike in May, Capital Economics' economist Marcel Thieliant said.
However, the economist said job vacancies signals an increase in unemployment and with GDP growth set to slow sharply, the unemployment rate is likely to climb to 4.5 percent by year-end.
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