Australia's labour market remains resilient, with the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing a small uptick in the unemployment rate.
Amid heightened global challenges, Australia's unemployment rate increased to 4.3 per cent in February - remaining low by historical standards.
This was primarily driven by an increase in the participation rate, which went up by 0.2 percentage points - which means more people were in work or looking for work.
The number of people employed increased by 48,900 in February, to a record high of 14,748,700. There are now 264,700 more Australians in work than a year ago.
Quotes Attributable to Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth:
"Amid heightened global uncertainty, today's strong employment result reinforces that Australia faces these challenges from a position of strength.
"Australia has a record number of people in jobs, unemployment remains low and participation is near its highest level on record.
"Women's participation also remains high, and a record number of women are in work. That's good for families, communities and the economy.
"We'll keep working to create more jobs, lift wages and ensure people have the security they deserve at work.
"Only Labor is committed to ensuring Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn."
Quotes attributable to Treasurer Jim Chalmers:
"In the face of extreme global uncertainty, we're one of few countries that has been able to keep people in jobs and we see that in these figures.
"Our resilient labour market is one of the reasons we are well placed and well prepared to manage the impacts of the conflict in the Middle East, but we will not be immune.
"Since we were elected, more than 1.2 million jobs have been created, most of them full time and four out of every five in the private sector. The participation rate has been near record highs. Australia has stronger jobs growth and economic growth and has higher participation than every major advanced economy.
"We've made a lot of progress together on the economy but the job's not done because people are still under pressure which is why the government continues to focus on helping with the cost of living with two rounds of tax cuts to come, this year and next year.
"Our three big economic priorities for this year are addressing inflation, productivity and resilience, and global uncertainty, and our resilient labour market gives us a strong foundation to build on the progress we've made recently."
