Record employment was a key feature of the Coalition Government’s re-election campaign, highlighted by recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The trend unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1% in April with over 1.3 million more people in work than there were in 2013.  320,000 jobs were created last year and almost 30,000 jobs in the past month alone

Over the past year, employment figures remain above the average annual growth rate across the past 20 years (2.0 per cent).

Participation in the jobs market, along with female participation, is the highest it has ever been. More than three quarters of the jobs created over the last year were full-time and more women are in full-time work than ever before.

Last year, over 100,000 new jobs were created for young people, the first time this has ever been achieved.

The ABS reported trend unemployment rate remained steady in New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. It decreased by 0.1 percentage points in the Northern Territory and by less than 0.1 percentage points in Queensland. It increased by 0.2 percentage points in the Australian Capital Territory, by 0.1 percentage points in Tasmania and by less than 0.1 percentage points in Victoria.

Over the year, the unemployment rate fell in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, and increased in South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.