The national jobless rate has stayed at 3.4 per cent, with 64,000 jobs added to the economy.

A 66.8 per cent participation rate was recorded for the month of November, a 0.2 percentage point lift over the month to return to record highs first seen in the middle of the year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics published its latest labour force figures on Thursday.

“With increases in both employment (up 64,000 people) and unemployment (up 7000 people), the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.4 per cent, while the participation rate increased to 66.8 per cent,” Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the bureau, said.

Mr Jarvis said the high participation rate was proof of an exceptionally tight labour market, especially when coupled with very low unemployment.

For women, the participation rate returned to historic highs seen in June, lifting 0.2 percentage points to 62.4 per cent.

The participation rate for men also edged up 0.2 percentage points to 71.3 per cent.

Underemployment also remained low, consistent with the strong jobs market, falling 0.1 percentage points to 5.8 per cent

This is 2.9 percentage points below the pre-pandemic rate.

Hours worked over the month remained strong despite a 0.4 per cent dip for the month, but Mr Jarvis said illness continued to pull this metric down.

“In November, we saw the number of people working reduced hours due to illness increasing by 50,000, back over half a million people (520,000), which is still around a third higher than we usually see at this time of the year,” Mr Jarvis said.

Strong demand for labour throughout the pandemic recovery has kept the jobless rate in the mid-threes since June.

In October 32,200 jobs were added to the economy, driving the jobless rate back to 3.4 per cent from 3.5 per cent in September.

Although job vacancies and ads have come off their elevated peaks, another low jobless read was expected given the enduring heat in the jobs market.

But a weakening in the jobless rate is expected as economic conditions worsen.

– AAP