News Summary

• An extra 40,300 jobs were added to the economy in May, driving down the unemployment rate from 4.5 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
• The result was driven by a reduction in the backlog of people who were waiting to start a job, ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.
• While the result suggests the labour market is still relatively resilient, it doesn't necessarily suggest it is tightening further.
• After three interest rate rises so far in 2026, unemployment is expected to rise, but only gradually.