This week’s big data release was the August labour force report, where lockdowns continued to distort some of the headline data. This produced the disconcerting combination of another fall in the unemployment rate – this time to 4.5 per cent, its lowest rate since late 2008 – alongside a drop in employment of more than 146,000 people and a 3.7 per cent slump in hours worked. The explanation for this peculiar blend of outcomes was another big decline in the participation rate as the size of the Australian labour force shrank for a second consecutive month.
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