Filled jobs rise by more than 107,000 in the September quarter
The number of filled jobs rose by 107,600 jobs (0.7 per cent) to 16.1 million in the September quarter 2025, according to Labour Account figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: ‘Both main and secondary jobs rose in the September quarter. The number of main jobs rose by 0.5 per cent, or 67,300 jobs, and secondary jobs rose by 3.8 per cent, or 40,300 jobs.
‘Annual growth in filled jobs to September 2025 was 1.2 per cent, the slowest annual growth recorded since March quarter 2021.’
Hours worked rose 0.2 per cent over the quarter. The stronger rise in secondary jobs, which are typically part-time, drove a fall in average hours worked per job by 0.4 per cent.
The multiple job-holding rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 6.5 per cent. This reflected a 2.2 per cent rise in the number of multiple job-holders and a 0.3 per cent rise in employed people.
Both men and women drove the rise in multiple job-holders , with the number of male multiple-job holders up by 10.5 per cent to 428,200, and number of female multiple-job holders up by 0.9 per cent to 530,500.
The number of job vacancies fell 1.9 per cent over the quarter and was down 2.0 per cent annually.
Job vacancies fell in 13 out of 19 industries over the quarter, reflecting reduced labour demand. Market sector industries saw a fall of 2.8 per cent in job vacancies, which was partly offset by a 0.5 per cent rise in the non-market sector.
Annual secondary jobs fall despite quarterly rise
‘Secondary jobs rose by 40,300 jobs in the September quarter 2025, after two quarterly falls in a row. Despite the rise this quarter, secondary jobs are 0.7 per cent lower compared to the same period last year, recording the third through the year fall in a row,’ Mr Crick said.
On an industry scale,14 out of 19 industries recorded rises in secondary jobs this quarter and 10 out of 19 industries fell through the year.
Education and training (up 9,300 jobs), Accommodation and food services (up 7,400 jobs) and Health care and social assistance (up 6,000 jobs) contributed most to this quarter’s rise in secondary jobs.
Analysis included in the Multiple job-holders publication which combines Labour Force Survey and Labour Account statistics suggested that ‘while there are more multiple job-holders this quarter, the average hours they work in their secondary jobs fell by 4.2 per cent from 9.0 hours to 8.7 hours,’ Mr Crick said.
Market and non-market sectors continue to grow
Non-market sector filled jobs rose 1.0 per cent (46,600 jobs) and the market sector rose by 0.5 per cent (61,100 jobs).
Health care and social assistance accounted for 46 per cent of the growth in non-market sector filled jobs as demand for health services increased.
Despite the quarterly rise, non-market sector through the year growth has slowed to 1.6 per cent, continuing its downward trend since September quarter 2024.
Market sector through the year growth remained flat at 1.0 per cent, after having gradually increased since September quarter 2024.
Construction industry accounted for 34 per cent of the growth in market sector filled jobs, with filled job reaching 1.3 million in this industry.
Media notes
- The Australian Labour Account complements other ABS measures to build a more comprehensive picture of the labour market. It provides the number of filled jobs at a point-in-time each quarter, while the annual Jobs in Australia provides insights into all jobs held throughout the year, and Labour Force Survey measures the number of people employed each month.
- As noted in the Spotlight on the Australian labour market over the last 30 years article, the Labour Account is the ABS’ best source for quarterly public and private sector data, along with market and non-market grouping of industries. Both sectors and market and non-market groupings are different (one relates to whether a business is government controlled, and the other to whether the destination of most of the output is the market). They can be used together to form a comprehensive picture of the labour market.
- Additional insights on multiple job-holders can be found in the multi-source Multiple job-holders release, which is published on the same day as the quarterly Labour Account. The release combines data from a number of complementary labour sources to offer valuable additional detail into characteristics of multiple job-holders.
- Data contained in this media release refer to seasonally adjusted estimates, unless otherwise stated.
- To learn more about our different labour measures, their purpose and how to use them, see our Guide to labour statistics. It provides summary information on labour market topics including Industry employment data.
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