The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated a net 1800 people joined the workforce between April and May in seasonally adjusted terms.

That took total employment to an estimated 259,600, still 1600 below the total for February 2020, shortly before the pandemic-driven recession hit last year.

Previously released figures had shown a decline in Tasmanian jobs in recent times, following a strong recovery from the jobs crash that accompanied the onset of the pandemic and related restrictions last year.

Figures based on payrolls released last week suggested jobs growth might be returning.

Those figures estimated payroll employment increased by 0.3 per cent between May 15 and May 22.

The latest employment figures, released on Thursday, estimated Tasmania's unemployment rate fell from 6.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent.

That was the lowest since March 2020.

The biggest negative in the figures was an estimated decline of 800 in full-time employment, suggesting the month's growth came from part-time work.

"Today's ABS data has once again confirmed our economic recovery is well under way, with employment in Tasmania growing by 1800 people in May," Premier Peter Gutwein said.

"This brings the total number of people employed in Tasmania to 259,600, higher than before the pandemic hit in March last year.

"Importantly, our unemployment rate also fell by 0.5 per cent to 5.7 percent and our participation rate grew as Tasmanians start getting out and filling the job opportunities available."

Tasmanian Small Business Council chief executive Robert Mallett said the recent downturn in jobs probably reflected short-term caution from employers around the withdrawal of the federal JobKeeper wage subsidy at the end of March.

"Tasmanians are supporting their local businesses in force, which then gives rise to 'I need more people to do the work, who's out there?' which is fantastic news," he said.

He said difficulty finding workers was Tasmania's biggest impediment to business growth at present.

Australia added a net 115,000 jobs for the month, with the unemployment rate falling from 5.5 per cent to 5.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, separate ABS data released on Wednesday showed Australian women were still spending significantly more time than men doing unpaid indoor housework, cooking and care or supervision of children.

A survey in May found 62 per cent of women had spent five or more hours in the past week doing unpaid indoor housework compared with 35 per cent of men.

"Women also took on more caring responsibilities than men, spending five or more hours in the last week on unpaid caring or supervision of children (38 per cent of women compared with 28 per cent of men), care of adults (16 per cent compared with 7 per cent) and cooking and baking (64 per cent compared with 37 per cent)," ABS head of household surveys David Zago said.

"Men were slightly more likely than women to have spent five or more hours in the last week on outdoor chores and repairs (20 per cent compared with 18 per cent)."