Australia's unemployment rate remained at 4.7 per cent in September, after August's jobless rate was revised upwards.
It means the national unemployment rate remains at its highest level in the post-COVID era, in seasonally adjusted terms.
An estimated 39,300 fewer Australians were in work last month, and the number of officially unemployed people increased by 8,900.
The proportion of people in work or actively looking for work, the "participation rate", also surprisingly fell to 66.8 per cent, from 67 per cent.
It means the average unemployment rate in the September quarter was 4.63 per cent, well above (and ahead of) the Reserve Bank's forecast of 4.5 per cent for the December quarter this year.
However, the Bureau of Statistics data show that, in trend terms, things remained steady last month.
The trend unemployment rate remained at 4.6 per cent, the participation rate at 66.9 per cent, hours worked remained steady, and the employment-to-population ratio held at 63.8 per cent.