Unemployment among permanent, skilled migrants is just three per cent within 18 months of their arrival in Australia, figures show.

The immigration department's third longitudinal survey of migrants shows newly arrived skilled migrants have stronger job prospects than the country as a whole.

After a year-and-a-half in Australia, skilled migrants have an employment rate of 97 per cent, according to the statistics released on Thursday by Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

The workforce participation rate was 94 per cent - about 1.5 times the national average.

Migrants on spouse visas had an unemployment rate of five per cent and a workforce participation rate of 72 per cent, the survey of almost 10,000 skilled and family migrants found.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Skilled-migrants...7/1178995312644.html