Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady last month, at 5.6%.
But the growing shift away from full-time work, towards part-time employment, continued unabated nationally.
Bureau of Statistics data, released on Thursday, shows the number of people in full-time employment has fallen by 69,900 since December.
In comparison, part-time employment has increased by 132,700, with its share of overall employment increasing from 31.1% to 32%.
On Wednesday figures were released showing the annual rate of wage growth is now a historically low 1.9%.
Economists have said wages are growing so slowly in Australia because the demand for labour, and the composition of labour, remains insufficient to make wages rise in a significant way.
Jacqui Jones, the program manager of the Bureau of Statistics’ labour and income branch, said the latest jobs data showed the shift towards part-time employment had been more pronounced for men than for women.
“Over the past year, part-time employment has increased from around 31% of employment to 32%,” Jones said. “That’s a relatively large shift, if you consider that it was around 29% 10 years ago.”
The trend monthly hours worked increased by 3.2m hours (0.2%), with increases in total hours worked by both full-time and part-time workers.
