National

Unemployment jump to 4.3 per cent defies expectations

Mar 19, 2026

Jobs — An extra 48,900 jobs were added to Australia's economy in February. -AAP Image

Australia's unemployment rate jumped to 4.3 per cent in February, despite almost 50,000 more Australians finding a job.

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The labour force figures, unveiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, wrongfooted the consensus of market economists, who had been tipping the jobless rate to hold steady at 4.1 per cent.

But 48,900 new jobs added to the economy was stronger than consensus expectations of a 20,000 increase.

The number of unemployed people grew by 35,000.

That contributed to the 0.2 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate, said Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics.

"This month we saw fewer people who were unemployed and waiting to start a job in January move into employment in February, compared to recent Februarys," he said.

"We also saw more people remaining unemployed this month compared to recent Februarys."

There were also fewer people leaving jobs to retire compared to a year ago, contributing to a 0.2 percentage point increase in the participation rate to 66.9 per cent.

Part-time employment rose by 79,000 people, while full-time employment fell by 30,000 people.

The rise in the unemployment rate could ease Reserve Bank concerns that there is not enough spare capacity in the jobs market, contributing to inflation.

Although the strong growth in hiring and high participation rate shows the labour market remains robust.