The workforce participation rate for Australian women reached a record high of 62.5 per cent in March, according to new figures released today.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new data on Thursday, which showed an increase in women’s full-time employment, increasing by more than 80,000 over the past two months.
Lauren Ford, the Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said the data showed strong growth in women’s employment.
“With consecutive months of strong growth in female employment (up 81,000 over the past two months), the female participation rate increased to a record high of 62.5 per cent, and their employment-to-population ratio also hit a historical high of 60.4 per cent,” Ford said.
According to the ABS, Australia’s overall workforce participation rate remains at 66.7 per cent, with the figures also showing Australia’s national unemployment rate has remained steady at 3.5 per cent (seasonally adjusted), a near 50-year low.
“In line with the increase in employment, the employment-to-population ratio increased 0.1 percentage point to 64.4 per cent, with the participation rate remaining at 66.7 per cent,” Ford said.
“Both indicators were close to their historical highs in November 2022, reflecting a tight labour market and explaining why employers are finding it hard to fill the high number of job vacancies.”
There were 72,200 full-time jobs created last month, with total employment lifting to 13.9 million.