SYDNEY – Thursday, 19 March 2015: The drop in the unemployment rate is a sign of the continuous trend of Australia’s economy shifting away from a mining-led economy to a broader based job market. Ahead of the release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Australia Detailed report, figures released from the initial report on Australia’s unemployment rate demonstrate an encouraging trend.The unemployment rate for February dropped to 6.3 per cent, compared with 6.4 percent in January. Simon Meyer, Managing Director of Michael Page Australia, attributes the 0.1 percent decline to the changing trends within Australia’s job market.“February is the first real month of data that is not seasonally affected, and these statistics are based on a set of data which forecasts a promising year ahead,” says Meyer. “The latest statistics reflect a transition from the Mining boom to a more broad-based economy as we are starting to see the migration of talent from what were boom markets back to broader based industries.”The statistics demonstrate a growing optimism within the employment market as slowly it shows that there is momentum in the broader aspects of the economy. “The decline in unemployment for February bodes well for the second half of 2015, and more importantly, forecasts some possible acceleration for 2016,” says Meyer. “This sort of broad economic trend puts pressure on the supply of qualified professionals and the supply and demand of the number of good jobs, also indicating that there could be some upward movements on salaries over the next 6 to 12 months.”February’s statistics are indicative of a changing job market. “Infrastructure, Technology and Government hiring particularly in NSW continue to be strong areas for recruitment activity.” says Meyer.Simon Meyer is available for further comment or interview.
