The unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 3.7 per cent in October (seasonally adjusted), according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: "With employment increasing by 55,000 people, and the number of unemployed people increasing by 28,000, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent in October. This was back to around where it had been in July and August.

The large increase in employment in October followed a small increase in September of around 8,000 people. Looking over the past two months, these increases equate to average employment growth of around 31,000 people a month, which is slightly lower than the average growth of 35,000 people a month since October 2022."

The employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.1 percentage point to 64.5 per cent. The participation rate also increased by 0.2 percentage points to 67.0 per cent.

Why it matters: The Reserve Bank is hoping for a loosening in the job market to bring down inflation back to target of between 2 per cent to 3 per cent.

What has changed: The RBA, which last week raised the cash rate to 4.35 per cent, revised its unemployment rate forecast to 3.8 per cent by December from 3.9 per cent.

What next: The ABS is due to publish the monthly consumer inflation report for October on November 29.