By Kellie Balaam and Nina Ricci

Australia’s employment rate has risen from 5.1 per cent in April to 5.2 per cent this month.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed – in seasonally adjusted terms – in Western Australia, the unemployment rate increased from 5.9 per cent in March to 6.1 per cent in April.

This increase creates pressure for the Reserve Bank of Australia to implement measures to help improve the job market, and could be bad news for Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of Saturday’s election.

Nationally, there are now more than 700 000 Australians without work .