The unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest rate since November last year.

The unemployment rate has fallen from 5.6 per cent to 5.4 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms over the month, with the ranks of the unemployed down by 26,800 to 714,600.

Full-time employment fell by 20,600, while part-time work increased 32,600. Total hours worked were down 1.4 per cent or 24.2 million hours.

Labour market economist Callum Pickering said conditions are cooling.

“At this stage we will be lucky to see employment growth of more than 150,000 people this year,” Mr Pickering told the ABC.

“Full-time employment was again disappointing, as it has been throughout 2018, suggesting that the jobs that are being created are not necessarily the high-income roles that drive an economy forward.

“This sits in stark contrast to last year when full-time employment drove the recovery.”

The underemployment rate rose to 8.5 per cent, while the underutilisation rate (adding the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed together) is well above the average of 13.3 per cent over the past decade.