Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has talked up the latest jobs figures out today as "not just luck" but the result of the Coalition's economic plan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The unemployment rate has remained steady at 4 per cent as the federal election fight over jobs and economic management heats up.
The jobless rate was unchanged in the month of March, defying expectations from economists who had predicted it would dip below 4 per cent.
"It is not luck, it is not an accident, it is the result of a carefully considered plan - an unemployment rate at 4 per cent, the equal lowest in 48 years," the Treasurer told reporters in Melbourne.
"This time around, Anthony Albanese might seek to remember that because it shows that our economic plan is working."
The government were hoping the unemployment rate would have "a three in front of it", and economists are still tracking that to happen by June.
"With employment increasing by 18,000 people and unemployment falling by 12,000, the unemployment rate decreased slightly in March, though remained at 4.0 per cent in rounded terms," Australian Bureau of Statistics head of labor statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.
The update on the unemployment rate had been highly anticipated with jobs and economic management among the key issues in the federal election campaign.
The Prime Minister has held up Australia's falling jobless rate as a marker of his government's success steering the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic and other global disruptions.
Mr Morrison re-stated job creation was his number one priority on Thursday morning, as he deflected questions about his failure to deliver promises, including on a national integrity commission and commuter carparks.
"I'll talk about what my priorities are. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs," Mr Morrison said during a press conference outside Launceston.
Mr Morrison this week promised a re-elected Coalition government would create 1.3 million new jobs over the next five years.
The announcement has created controversy for the Prime Minister, after revelations that the factory used as the backdrop for the pledge was poised to cut local jobs and move work offshore.
Ahead of the release of the unemployment figures on Thursday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he wanted the rate to be as low as possible.
"I want an economy that works for people, not the other way around," he said.
The unemployment rate at 4 per cent over recent months was "still not generating the real wage growth that Australians need to keep up with skyrocketing costs of living," he said.
"Even as unemployment has been falling in recent months in welcome ways, we're not getting the real wage growth that we to see in the economy. More people are working multiple jobs just to keep up with the skyrocketing costs of living and we have got serious skills shortages in our economy, which have been left unattended for too long."
READ MORE: