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Australia's unemployment rate has dropped to 3.4 per cent, with 20,000 jobs added.

"The fall in unemployment in July reflects an increasingly tight labour market, including high job vacancies and ongoing labour shortages, resulting in the lowest unemployment rate since August 1974," Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said.

Mr Jarvis also said there were fewer unemployed people in July than there were job vacancies in May.

The latest labour force figures follow a sharper-than-expected drop in the jobless rate in June, with unemployment sinking to its lowest rate in 48 years.

The record-low unemployment meant there was effectively one unemployed person for every vacant job, which is being felt by employers around the country as they struggle to find staff.

The July results were in line with expectations, with most predicting jobless and participation rates to remain steady or to dip slightly.

This includes the Reserve Bank of Australia, which anticipated a fall in the unemployment rate in light of strong demand for labour and high numbers of open jobs.

Analysts broadly expected to see between 20,000 and 25,000 jobs added, and the unemployment rate remaining unchanged or dropping marginally.

There are signs the pace of recruitment at small- and medium-sized businesses is slowing, with Employment Hero data showing the number of employees added fell by 0.1 per cent between June and July.

"This is most evident among smaller enterprises that have experienced a contraction in employee size over the past month," Employment Hero CEO and founder Ben Thompson said.

However, the number of people employed by small- and medium-sized businesses is still growing, up 7.7 per cent from July last year.

Job ad numbers have also started declining, according to June SEEK data, although volumes were still well above pre-pandemic levels.

Accounting, trades and services, design and architecture, legal, and insurance and superannuation roles were the only industries to see growth in job ad numbers between May and June.

The ABS also released average weekly data on Thursday, which showed the average weekly earnings from wages and salaries rose by 1.9 per cent to $1769.80 annually to May.

© AAP 2022

A man has been arrested in Queensland over the alleged murder of a teenage boy in inner Sydney 24 years ago who was injured in a fire that led to his death.

Arthur Haines, 13, was sleeping at a friend's home and became trapped on the top floor as the fire took over the building at Waterloo on April 9, 1998.

The boy managed to escape but was severely burned and died 11 weeks later at Westmead Children's Hospital.

The fire was ruled deliberate lit - but the case remained unsolved until homicide detectives re-opened the case in 2020.

Their investigation led to an arrest warrant being issued for a 55-year-old man who was believed to be interstate.

Queensland homicide detectives arrested him at a Brisbane home on Wednesday.

Their NSW counterparts will apply to extradite him to NSW at Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

© AAP 2022

For some performers, the mere thought of singing solo in the spotlight can cause a crippling case of stage fright.

But now the incredible and occasionally intimidating vocal skills of reality TV contestants could be scaring wannabe singers right off the stage.

Not only could the fear factor deprive audiences of a potential singing sensation, but it might even prevent people from daring to warbling a tune, a study has found.

James Cook University psychology lecturer Amanda Krause says the findings could impact a wider participation in singing activities, something that offers significant health and well-being benefits for even the most tone deaf.

"We thought that exposure to the technically demanding reality television singing style (such as on The Voice, X Factor, Got Talent, and The Masked Singer) might negatively influence singing self-concept compared to hearing amateur singers or plain, unembellished singing by professionals," Dr Krause said.

She said the reality was that singers on these shows used "belt" and "chest-mix" voices in their performances.

"Belt is where the singer uses sophisticated acoustic and physical strategies to achieve loud phonation and a bright timbre," she said.

"Chest-mix voice maintains a strong vocal quality on higher pitches and using either is technically and stylistically demanding and the ability to do so is commonly the result of significant vocal training."

To test the theory, the JCU team played one of four versions of Happy Birthday, rating from just piano and no singing, amateur singing, professional plain singing, or the way you might hear it on reality TV.

Participants then judged the performance and rated their own singing abilities.

"While other studies show most people can sing in tune and in time with reasonable accuracy, our results show that exposure to the reality TV style of singing may have negative impacts on people's singing self-concept," the study found.

"In much the same way as fashion models represent unattainable ideals of physical beauty for members of the general public, elite singing as portrayed in reality TV singing shows valorises a style of singing beyond the technical capability of most."

The message was not to let the small screen reality discourage any crooner - from the amateur to the semi-professional - from singing in public.

"It's important for music teachers and organisers to be aware of cultural influences on an individual's singing self-concept," Dr Krause said.

"In this way, with empathetic guidance, awareness, and support, even the most reluctant, inaccurately labelled 'tone deaf' singer can experience the many joys of singing."

This research was published in the Journal of Voice.

© AAP 2022