This week saw the Government deliver on their promise of an activated workforce, celebrating record labour participation at 78.1 per cent for the adult population (aged 15–64). This is the highest rate recorded since February 1978, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) started regular reporting on labour force participation.
Increased employment and active work-seeking has reached a near-record 65.6 per cent, with 400,000 people entering the workforce in 2017. The labour force figures released on Thursday by the ABS illustrate an economic climate where people are motivated to job-hunt and, with 16,000 additional jobs created in January 2018 alone, can be successful.
From the 1990s, when less than half of women worked, the past 18 months have seen women taking the majority of jobs, boasting a participation rate of 60.5 per cent. Demonstrating a diversified workforce, the gap between male and female participation rates in the is now less than 10 percentage points. The figures also illustrate impressive annual employment growth in ACT (4.8 per cent), Queensland (4.7 per cent) and NSW (3.6 per cent).
The Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, noted yesterday that the figures also confirmed the longest run in jobs growth in recorded history: 16 consecutive months and 492,000 jobs.
Wages data for the December quarter are set to be released on Wednesday, 21 February 2018.
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