Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.7% in September, unchanged from an upwardly revised figure in August and above expectations of 4.6%. It was the highest since October 2021, with the number of unemployed increasing by 8,900 to 732,000, the highest since April 2021. Full-time job seekers rose by 17,600 to 499,400, while part-time job seekers fell by 8,600 to 232,700. Meanwhile, employment unexpectedly fell by 39,300 to 14.78 million, defying expectations of a 20,000 rise, after a downward revision of the August increase of 29,300 jobs. Part-time employment declined by 73,700 to 4.55 million, while full-time employment increased by 34,400 to 10.23 million. The participation rate edged down to 66.8% from 67.0% in August, coming in below expectations and reaching its lowest level in four months. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate inched up to 6.3% from 6.2% in August, while total monthly hours worked across all jobs increased by 1 million to 2.011 billion.