unemployment rate has risen slightly to 3.8 per cent, up from last month's surprisingly low figure of 3.7 per cent, after 6600 jobs were lost in March.
"With employment falling by around 7000 people and the number of unemployed rising by 21,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 per cent," ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.Jarvis said that, while higher than the February number, which came on the back of an unusually large surge in workers starting new jobs, the current unemployment level remains historically low.
While unemployment rose by 0.1 per cent, underemployment actually fell by the same number and the number of hours worked rose by 0.9 per cent.