Economic Indicators

Employment

A snapshot of employment and participation within the Australian labour force.

This note provides commentary and analysis on the monthly labour force survey data, which estimates Australian employment, unemployment, underemployment, labour participation and hours worked.

  • 14 Sep 2023 Employment August 2023

    Employment rose by 64.9k in August, well above the 25.0k pencilled in by the consensus. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, both in seasonally adjusted and trend terms. Western Australian employment rose by another 14.7k in August, but the unemployment rate picked up 0.3ppts to 3.8% amid a 0.7ppts surge in participation to a six-month high of 69.3%.

  • 17 Aug 2023 Employment July 2023

    Employment declined a seasonally adjusted 14.6k in July, which came against the consensus forecasts of a 15.0k increase. The unemployment rate rose 0.2ppts to 3.7%, slightly more than the 0.1ppts increase to 3.6% pencilled in by the consensus.

  • 20 Jul 2023 Employment June 2023

    Employment rose a seasonally adjusted 32.6k in June, which was significantly more than the 15k pencilled in by the market consensus. The unemployment rate remained at 3.5%, with the May figure revised down 0.1ppts.

  • 15 Jun 2023 Employment May 2023

    Employment surged a seasonally adjusted 75.9k in May, which was significantly more than the 14.8k pencilled in by the market consensus. The unemployment rate unexpectedly ebbed 0.1ppts to 3.6%, as the number of unemployed people declined by 16.5k to be 6.4% down through the year.

  • 18 May 2023 Employment April 2023

    Employment ebbed a seasonally adjusted 4.3k in April. The slight decline in April was a surprise to the market participants, who expected a 24.5k gain. The unemployment rate saw an unexpected 0.2ppts increase to 3.7% in seasonally adjusted terms, against no change pencilled in by the market consensus.

  • 13 Apr 2023 Employment March 2023

    March was another bumper month for the Aussie labour market, with employment surging a seasonally adjusted 53.0k (exp. 20.0k), following a revised 63.6k increase in February (revised from 64.6k). The unemployment rate was steady at 3.5% in both seasonally adjusted and trend terms.

  • 16 Mar 2023 Employment - February 2023

    Employment surged a seasonally adjusted 64.6k in February, more than the 49.1k expected by the markets. The unemployment rate declined 0.2ppts to 3.5% (mkt exp: 3.6%), to be back at the December 2022 level.

  • 16 Feb 2023 Employment - January 2023

    Employment declined a seasonally adjusted 11.5k in January, against the market expectations of a 20.0k gain. This followed a 20.0k drop in December (revised from -14.6k).

  • 19 Jan 2023 Employment - December 2022

    Employment fell a seasonally adjusted 14.6k in December, against the market expectations of a 25.0k gain. The unemployment rate was unchanged from the upwardly revised 3.5% for November.

  • 15 Dec 2022 Employment - November 2022

    Employment rose a seasonally adjusted 64.0k in November, much more than the 17.0k expected by market participants. The unemployment rate remained at an equal monthly series low of 3.4% in seasonally adjusted terms. The underutilisation rate, which combines unemployment and underemployment, fell to a 40-year low of 9.2%.

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