Australia's Jobless Rate Steady at 4.1% in February

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 per cent in February, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics said: 'With employment falling by 53,000 people and the number of unemployed falling by 11,000 people, the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 per cent.

'Fewer older workers returning to work in February contributed to the fall in employment this month, with lower levels of employment in the older age groups in February 2025 compared with 2024. This follows higher levels of employment in these age groups in recent years, particularly in 2024, alongside growth in the employment-to-population ratio over the last few years,' Mr Jarvis said.

'In contrast, we continue to see growth in employment for people aged between 15 and 54 over the year.'

Despite the fall in employment in February, in seasonally adjusted terms it was still around 266,000 people - or 1.9 per cent - higher than last February. This annual growth rate is around the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 2.0 per cent.

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

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 1

A spotlight on participation by sex and age is included in this release, which shows the increases in participation over the recent decades and across the past few years.