Modernising the Labour Force Survey
The ABS is improving how we collect the Labour Force Survey so we can continue producing high-quality labour force statistics, maintain strong response rates, provide a better experience for respondents, and run our business more efficiently.
For further details on these plans, see Modernising the Labour Force Survey, Upcoming changes to Labour Force Survey outputs and How the ABS quality assures Labour Force data during times of change.
Correction to Underemployment and Underutilisation data
The ABS has identified a systems error in the compilation of underemployment data. The number of underemployed persons was underestimated in the April and May 2026 releases of Labour Force, Australia. This issue does not affect the core Labour Force measures. This includes employment, the unemployment rate, the participation rate or hours worked data.
This error impacts Tables in X28 and X29 in the Data downloads section of these releases. References to this data has been temporarily removed (Monday 6th July) and will be updated over the coming days in Labour Force, Australia, May 2026.
We regret any inconvenience as we work to reinstate the tables as soon as possible.
| Apr-26 | May-26 | Monthly change | Monthly change (%) | Yearly change | Yearly change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed people | 14,698,500 | 14,738,800 | 40,300 | 0.30% | 147,500 | 1.00% |
| Employment to population ratio | 63.70% | 63.80% | 0.1 pts | na | -0.5 pts | na |
| Unemployed people | 689,600 | 671,300 | -18,300 | -2.70% | 50,300 | 8.10% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.50% | 4.40% | -0.1 pts | na | 0.3 pts | na |
| Participation rate | 66.60% | 66.70% | 0.0 pts | na | -0.3 pts | na |
| Monthly hours worked in all jobs | 2,032 million | 2,010 million | -22 million | -1.10% | 10 million | 0.50% |
| Apr-26 | May-26 | Monthly change | Monthly change (%) | Yearly change | Yearly change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed people | 14,733,600 | 14,753,700 | 20,200 | 0.10% | 185,000 | 1.30% |
| Employment to population ratio | 63.80% | 63.80% | 0.0 pts | na | -0.3 pts | na |
| Unemployed people | 669,800 | 672,800 | 3,000 | 0.50% | 41,600 | 6.60% |
| Unemployment rate | 4.30% | 4.40% | 0.0 pts | na | 0.2 pts | na |
| Participation rate | 66.70% | 66.70% | 0.0 pts | na | -0.2 pts | na |
| Monthly hours worked in all jobs | 2,016 million | 2,018 million | 3 million | 0.10% | 43 million | 2.20% |
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.