Labour Force, Australia

Latest release

Headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey

Reference period
January 2024
Released
15/02/2024
  • Next Release 21/03/2024
    Labour Force, Australia, February 2024
  • Next Release 18/04/2024
    Labour Force, Australia, March 2024
  • Next Release 16/05/2024
    Labour Force, Australia, April 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

In trend terms, in January 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.9%. 
  • participation rate decreased to 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,221,900.
  • employment to population ratio decreased to 64.1%.
  • underemployment increased to 6.6%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,906 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in January 2024:

  • unemployment rate increased to 4.1%.
  • participation rate remained at 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,201,300.
  • employment to population ratio decreased to 64.1%.
  • underemployment rate increased to 6.6%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,871 million.
  • full-time employment increased by 11,100 to 9,797,800 people.
  • part-time employment decreased by 10,600 to 4,403,500 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Dec-23Jan-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,214,50014,221,9007,4000.1%355,3002.6%
Unemployed people576,400581,6005,2000.9%75,60014.9%
Unemployment rate3.9%3.9%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.5%6.6%0.0 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Participation rate66.9%66.8%-0.1 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,915 million 1,906 million-10 million-0.5%-9 million-0.5%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Dec-23Jan-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,200,80014,201,3005000.0%356,7002.6%
Unemployed people578,300600,60022,3003.9%77,90014.9%
Unemployment rate3.9%4.1%0.1 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.5%6.6%0.1 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%66.8%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,920 million 1,871 million-49 million-2.5%13 million0.7%

Estimates of changes throughout this release are calculated using un-rounded level estimates and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded level estimates.

For definitions of labour statistics used in this publication, please refer to Glossary of Labour Force, Australia methodology.

Survey impacts and changes

Articles

The ABS has included Insights into job attachment, January 2024, given the interest in understanding the number of people in January waiting to start or return to a job.

The ABS has also included Improvements to Labour Force estimation method to provide further information on the upcoming improvements to the Labour Force estimation method, which will be implemented in the February 2024 release on 21 March 2024. The article also includes information on the expected extent of revisions from this changes.

For a list of previously published LFS articles, see the Article archive.

Impacts from floods in Queensland

Flooding in Queensland in January 2024 resulted in some disruption to the operation of the Labour Force Survey. However, an extensive assessment has concluded that sufficient data was able to be collected and imputation was not required.

Given the intermittent but regular impact of extreme weather events, the ABS continues to monitor the impacts on collection activities and apply methodological treatments where required. 

Upcoming improvements to the Labour Force estimation method in early 2024

As part of ongoing improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics, the ABS will make some minor changes in how it accounts for some relatively small population groups within the sample.

There are various small groups, which together account for less than 2 per cent of the overall sample, who are more difficult to survey each month, contribute a higher degree of underlying sampling variability, and for whom there is more reliable auxiliary data sources (e.g. regular administrative data). This includes some people who don’t live in private dwellings and some people who live in remote and very remote parts of Australia.

As noted in recent Labour Force releases, ABS research and analysis has shown that estimation models that draw on auxiliary data for these groups produce a better quality contribution for them to aggregate Labour Force statistics.

The ABS will introduce the new method with the February 2024 release (and quarterly population rebenchmarking revisions) on 21 March 2024. Further information on this estimation improvements can be found in Improvements to Labour Force estimation method.

 

New Labour Force Survey sample phase-in

Since July 2018, the Labour Force Survey sample has been selected using information collected in the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.  The quality of the Labour Force sample is maintained by updating it with information from the most recent Census.

From September 2023, the sample frame has been updated with information from the 2021 Census, with sample selection from the new sample being phased in over eight months from September 2023 to April 2024.

This update is expected to have minimal impact on sample selection, and as with previous sample changes, will be monitored.

For more information please refer to Sample Design of Labour Force, Australia Methodology.

Update on enhanced regional labour market data

As part of ongoing improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics, the ABS is also developing improved monthly regional labour force estimates.

An information paper was released on 30 October 2023, containing new SA4 level estimates, alongside a research paper, A Rao-Yu model for small area estimation of labour force statistics, with additional details on the time series model used to produce these estimates.

The first monthly release of the new modelled SA4 estimates will be in early May 2024, one week after the release of March 2024 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, with March 2024 being the latest month of data available.

Survey response and timeline

The January Labour Force Survey was run in respect of the two weeks from Sunday 31 December to Saturday 13 January, and collected over the period from Sunday 7 January to Saturday 27 January.

The ABS would like to thank Australians for their continued support in responding to our surveys, given how critically important this information is.

Reference and Enumeration Dates
PublicationStart of Reference WeekEnd of Reference WeekStart of EnumerationEnd of Enumeration
Dec-2326th November 20239th December 20233rd December 202320th December 2023
Jan-2431st December 202313th January 20247th January 202427th January 2024
Feb-244th February 202417th February 202411th February 20242nd March 2024
Mar-243rd March 202416th March 202410th March 202430th March 2024
Apr-2431st March 202413th April 20247th April 202427th April 2024
May-2428th April 202411th May 20245th May 202425th May 2024

Unemployment

In trend terms, in January 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.9%.
  • unemployed people increased by 5,200 to 581,600. 
  • youth unemployment rate remained at 9.4%.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January  2024.

Employment

In trend terms, in January 2024, employment increased by 7,400 people (0.1%) to 14,221,900 people.

Flows into and out of employment

Flows into and out of employment are extensive and are based on the net matched sample of original employment growth between two consecutive months (around 80% of the sample). The (net) sum of the inflows and outflows does not necessarily equal the 'net' employment growth.

For January 2024, the net change in the number of employed people is the result of around 424,000 people entering employment (i.e. they were not employed in December 2023 but were employed in January 2024), while around 836,000 people left employment (i.e. they were employed in December 2023 but not employed in January 2024). This contrasts with December 2023, where around 455,000 people entered employment and around 459,000 people left employment.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January 2024.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in January 2024:

  • full-time employment decreased by 4,600 to 9,825,300 people, and part-time employment increased by 12,000 to 4,396,600 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 30.9%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in January 2024, the employment-to-population ratio deceased to 64.1%.

The employment-to-population ratio provides a measure of employment relative to the size of the population.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January 2024.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in January 2024, monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 9.6 million hours (-0.5%) to 1,906 million hours.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January 2024.

Participation

In trend terms, in January 2024, the participation rate:

  • decreased to 66.8%.
  • decreased to 71.1% for men and remained at 62.6% for women.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January 2024.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in January 2024:

  • underemployment rate increased to 6.6%.
  • underutilisation rate increased to 10.5%.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, January 2024.

States and Territories

January 2024 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,420,9003,689,3002,885,100948,6001,591,200285,000140,100266,20014,221,900
Employed people - monthly change0.1%0.0%0.2%-0.2%0.2%-0.2%0.4%-0.3%0.1%
Employment to population ratio63.7%64.6%63.8%61.1%66.7%59.2%70.8%69.3%64.1%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts0.2 pts-0.4 pts-0.1 pts
Unemployment rate3.7%4.0%4.3%3.9%4.0%4.2%4.4%3.9%3.9%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.5%6.8%6.9%7.6%6.0%6.8%3.9%5.3%6.6%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.2 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.2%67.3%66.7%63.6%69.5%61.8%74.1%72.1%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.3 pts-0.3 pts-0.1 pts
January 2024 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,397,1003,682,9002,885,300945,9001,587,300282,900140,800263,10014,201,300
Employed people - monthly change-0.5%0.1%0.1%0.0%0.0%-1.8%0.5%-1.5%0.0%
Employment to population ratio63.4%64.5%63.8%60.9%66.5%58.8%71.2%68.5%64.1%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change-0.5 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts-1.1 pts0.2 pts-1.2 pts-0.1 pts
Unemployment rate4.1%3.9%4.2%4.0%4.2%4.5%3.9%4.3%4.1%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.6 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts0.3 pts0.9 pts-0.6 pts0.4 pts0.1 pts
Underemployment rate6.6%7.0%6.8%7.7%6.0%6.7%3.4%5.5%6.6%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.8 pts-0.5 pts0.1 pts-0.3 pts-0.3 pts-1.0 pts0.5 pts0.1 pts
Participation rate66.1%67.2%66.6%63.4%69.4%61.6%74.1%71.5%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts-0.2 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.6 pts-0.2 pts-1.0 pts0.0 pts

Historical charts

Historical charts for employed, unemployed, unemployment rate and participation rate from August 1966 to January 2024

Historical Labour Force estimates of employment, unemployment rate, and participation rate from the historical quarterly and monthly Labour Force Survey.

Prior to 1978 the historical Labour Force Survey was collected quarterly; the current Labour Force Survey is collected monthly. Please refer to the history of changes to see the differences between the historical and current Labour Force Survey. 

Rotation group analysis

Sample composition and rotation

The Labour Force Survey sample can be thought of as comprising eight sub-samples (rotation groups), with each sub-sample remaining in the survey for eight months, and one group "rotating out" each month and being replaced by a new group "rotating in". As seven-eighths of the sample are common from one month to the next, changes in the estimates reflect real changes in the labour market, rather than changes in the sample. The replacement sample is generally selected from the same geographic areas as the outgoing one, as part of a representative sampling approach.

The sample comprises three components:

  • the matched common sample (people who responded in both the current month and previous month)
  • the unmatched common sample (people who responded in the current month but who did not respond in the previous month, or vice versa)
  • the incoming rotation group (replacing people who rotated out)

The matched common sample describes the change observed for the same respondents in the current and previous month, while the other two components reflect differences between the aggregate labour force status of different groups of people.

While the rotation groups are designed to be representative of the population, the outgoing and incoming rotation groups will almost always have somewhat different characteristics, as they reflect different households and people. The design of the survey, including the weighting and estimation processes, ensures that these differences are generally relatively minor and do not affect the representativeness of the survey and its estimates. Monthly estimates are designed to be representative, regardless of the relative contribution of the three components of the sample.

The contributions of the three sample components to the original estimates of employed, unemployed and not in the labour force are in the Contribution from sample components to estimates spreadsheet.

Estimates for the incoming and outgoing rotation groups

Incoming and outgoing rotation groups
December outgoing rotation groupJanuary incoming rotation groupJanuary outgoing rotation groupJanuary estimate (Original)
Employment to population ratio65.6%62.9%63.5%63.0%
Full-time employment to population ratio45.8%43.1%44.7%43.7%
Unemployment rate3.7%4.8%3.6%4.5%
Participation rate68.1%66.1%65.9%66.0%

States and Territories

In addition to analysis across the entire sample, the ABS also undertakes similar analysis for the responding sample in each state and territory each month, and highlights where there is a notable change for users to be aware of. In January, there were no noteworthy differences in the responding sample that were contributing to monthly movements for any of the states and territories. As with any notable month-to-month movement of this nature in state and territory estimates, the ABS recommends exercising a degree of caution in interpreting short-term changes.

As for its reporting for the entire sample, where the ABS has not highlighted a notable incoming rotation group effect, any larger changes should therefore be considered to reflect a broader change across the sample.

Comparability with seasonally adjusted and trend data

The gross flows and rotation group data are in original terms only, and are included to provide additional information on the month-to-month movements. They have a considerable level of inherent sampling variability, which is specifically adjusted for in the trend and seasonally adjusted series. The trend data provides the best measure of the underlying behaviour of the labour market and is the focus of the commentary in this publication.

Contribution from sample components to estimates

Data downloads

Labour Force Survey results are released in three stages.

  1. Spreadsheets of the headline indicators are published in this release
  2. Additional, more detailed spreadsheets and pivot tables are published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed one week after this first release
  3. Longitudinal labour force microdata are released in the ABS DataLab on a monthly basis, one day after the detailed release (see Microdata: Longitudinal Labour Force, Australia)

See the Survey output section of Labour Force, Australia methodology for more information.

Labour Force status

Data files

Hours worked

Data files

Underemployment and underutilisation

Data files

Flows into and out of employment

GM1 - Labour force status and Gross changes (flows) by Age, Sex, State and Territory, December 2003 to January 2024

GM1 - Labour force status and Gross changes (flows) by Age, Sex, State and Territory, Historical (from February 1991)

All time series spreadsheets

All time series spreadsheets

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the time period when using Data Explorer.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Labour Force status by Sex, State and Territory - Number of people employed, unemployed and not in the labour force, monthly, February 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force monthly hours worked by Sex, State and Territory - Monthly hours worked by employed people, monthly, July 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force status by Age Groups - Number of people employed, unemployed and not in the labour force, monthly, February 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force Educational Attendance - Educational attendance (Full Time) for 15-24 year olds by State, Territory and Sex, monthly, April 1986 and onwards.

Article archive

Employment and jobs

Charts on casual employment, occupation, industry and job mobility (May 2023)

Charts on casual employment, occupation, industry and job mobility (February 2023)

Charts on casual employment, occupation, industry and job mobility (November 2022)

Charts on casual employment, occupation, industry and job mobility (August 2022)

Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (May 2022)

Insights into job mobility from quarterly Labour Force Statistics (February 2022)

Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (February 2022)

Insights into job mobility from quarterly Labour Force statistics (December 2021)

Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (November 2021)

Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (August 2021)

Charts on casual employment, occupation and industry (May 2021)

Changing female employment over time (February 2021)

Insights into casual employment, occupation and industry (November 2020)

Strong employment growth for non-employees (August 2020)

State and territory employment and hours worked (August 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An International Perspective (August 2020)

Flows into and out of employment and unemployment (June 2020)

Insights into industry and occupation (May 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An international perspective (May 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An international perspective (April 2020)

People moving into or out of employment or unemployment every month (March 2020)

How many people work one hour a week (January 2019)

Leave entitlements (November 2015)

Duration of employment (November 2015)

Sector of main job (November 2015)

Estimating jobs in the Australian labour market (February 2013)

Employment in mining in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia (May 2012)

Unemployment and underemployment

Insights into job attachment (January 2023)

Insights into job attachment during the pandemic (February 2022)

Insights into job attachment during the pandemic (January 2022)

Insights into job attachment during the pandemic (November 2021)

Insights into job attachment during the pandemic (October 2021)

Underemployment: Reduced hours or prefers more hours (December 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An International Perspective (August 2020)

Understanding unemployment and the loss of work during the COVID-19 period: An Australian and international perspective (July 2020)

Flows into and out of employment and unemployment (June 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An International Perspective (June 2020)

People who lost a job or were stood down: flows analysis (May 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An international perspective (May 2020)

Hours not worked - Hours-based measures of unemployment and underemployment (May 2020)

People who lost a job or were stood down: Flows analysis (April 2020)

Reasons people are not in the labour force (April 2020)

Employment and unemployment: An international perspective (April 2020)

Underemployment in Australia (September 2018)

Spotlight on underemployment (November 2016)

Measures of underemployment and underutilisation (November 2015)

Full-time and part-time job search (November 2015)

Hours-based measures of unemployment and underemployment (November 2015)

Retrenchment (November 2015)

Did you know - Underemployment (June 2013)

Exploring labour force data on joblessness (February 2012)

 

Hours worked

Insights into hours worked (April 2023)

Insights into hours worked (March 2023)

Insights into hours worked (February 2023)

Insights into hours worked (January 2023)

Insights into hours worked (December 2022)

Insights into hours worked (November 2022)

Insights into hours worked (October 2022)

Insights into hours worked (September 2022)

Insights into hours worked (August 2022)

Insights into hours worked (July 2022)

Insight into hours worked (June 2022)

Insight into hours worked (May 2022)

Insight into hours worked (April 2022)

Insights into hours worked (March 2022)

Insights into hours worked (February 2022)

Insights into hours worked (January 2022)

Insights into hours worked (December 2021)

Insights into hours worked (November 2021)

Insights into hours worked (October 2021)

Insights into hours worked (September 2021)

Insights into hours worked (August 2021)

Insights into hours worked (July 2021)

Insights into hours worked (June 2021)

Insights into hours worked (May 2021)

Insights into hours worked (April 2021)

Insights into hours worked (March 2021)

How many people work one hour a week? (March 2021)

Insights into hours worked (February 2021)

Insights into hours worked (January 2021)

Insights into hours worked (December 2020)

Insights into hours worked (November 2020)

Insights into hours worked (October 2020)

Insights into hours worked (September 2020)

Insights into hours worked (August 2020)

State and territory employment and hours worked (August 2020)

Insights into hours worked (July 2020)

Insights into hours worked (June 2020)

Hours not worked - Hours-based measures of unemployment and underemployment (May 2020)

Insights into hours worked (May 2020)

People working fewer hours (April 2020)

Insights into hours worked (April 2020)

Reasons for working fewer hours (March 2020)

Insights into hours worked (March 2020)

Insights into detailed Labour Force Survey hours worked data (February 2020)

Revisions to monthly hours worked in all jobs (July 2016)

 

Methodology

A Rao-Yu model for small area estimation of labour force statistics (October 2023)

Major Rebenchmarking of Labour Force Estimates (November 2022)

Improvement to the trending method for Labour Force rates and ratios (October 2019)

Assessing volatility in Labour Force statistics (July 2019)

On-line collection in the Labour Force Survey (April 2019)

Annual seasonal re-analysis (March 2019)

Improvements to trend estimation (March 2018)

Major re-benchmarking of Labour Force series (October 2017)

Changes to filter lengths used in labour statistics (February 2017)

Update on recommendation 7 from the independent technical review (November 2015)

Progress with recommendations from the independent technical review (July 2015)

Update on recommendations 10 and 11 from the independent technical review (June 2015)

Update on recommendation 7 from the independent technical review (May 2015)

Update on recommendations from the independent technical review (March 2015)

Rebenchmarking Labour Force estimates (February 2015)

Independent technical review into the Labour Force Survey (November 2014)

Removing the effect of supplementary surveys from seasonally adjusted estimates (October 2014)

Rebenchmarking Labour Force estimates to the 2011 Census (January 2014)

New Labour Force sample design (May 2013)

Transition to online collection of the Labour Force survey (April 2013)

Rebenchmarking of Labour Force series (November 2012)

Population benchmarks and Labour Force Survey (April 2012)

Historical revisions (February 2011)

Impact of the floods on the Labour Force Survey (January 2011)

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6202.0.

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