Labour Force, Australia

Latest release

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

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Reference period
August 2026
Released
24/09/2026
  • Next Release 15/10/2026
    Labour Force, Australia, September 2026
  • Next Release 19/11/2026
    Labour Force, Australia, October 2026
  • Next Release 17/12/2026
    Labour Force, Australia, November 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
24/09/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms, in August 2026:

  • the employment-to-population ratio increased 0.1ppt to 63.9%.
  • the unemployment rate increased 0.2ppt to 4.6%.

In trend terms, in August 2026:

  • the employment-to-population ratio remained at 63.9%.
  • the unemployment rate increased marginally to 4.6%.

Main features

Labour Force Modernisation

The ABS has implemented a new Supplementary Survey collection model that removes the historical Supplementary Survey effect previously observed in February and August Labour Force data. It is possible that the Supplementary Survey effect was inadvertently also capturing some seasonality. Sensitivity testing indicates any impact on monthly movements is expected to be smaller than normal sampling variability and that the August data is fit-for-purpose. The ABS recommends being aware when using the August 2026 seasonally adjusted Labour Force data of this potential effect, and continues to recommend trend data as providing the best measure of the underlying behaviour of the labour market.

More information is available in the article Supplementary Survey methodology changes in the Labour Force Survey.

Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Jul-26Aug-26Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,797,10014,836,60039,5000.3%238,1001.6%
Employment to population ratio63.9%63.9%0.1 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Unemployed people694,700722,90028,2004.1%80,00012.4%
Unemployment rate4.5%4.6%0.2 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.3%6.2%-0.1 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Participation rate66.9%67.1%0.2 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs1,995 million2,009 million14 million0.7%33 million1.7%
Key statistics - Trend
Jul-26Aug-26Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,805,40014,829,40024,0000.2%228,3001.6%
Employment to population ratio63.9%63.9%0.0 ptsna-0.1 ptsna
Unemployed people703,900713,2009,3001.3%58,3008.9%
Unemployment rate4.5%4.6%0.0 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.3%6.3%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate66.9%67.0%0.1 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs2,004 million2,004 million0 million0.0%20 million1.0%

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

Quarterly rebenchmarking of labour force statistics

Weighting adjustments in Victoria

Rotation group analysis

Survey dates

Employment

In August 2026, employment increased by 39,500 people (0.3%) to 14,836,600 people in seasonally adjusted terms. Full-time employment decreased by 6,300 to 10,193,900 people, and part-time employment increased by 45,800 to 4,642,600 people.

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, August 2026.

Employment-to-population ratio

In August 2026, the employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.1ppt to 63.9% in seasonally adjusted terms. The employment-to-population ratio increased by 0.1ppt to 67.5% for males, and increased by 0.1ppt to 60.5% for females.

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, August 2026.

Unemployment

In August 2026, the unemployment rate increased to 4.6% in seasonally adjusted terms, with the number of unemployed people increasing by 28,200 to 722,900 people. The unemployment rate increased to 4.8% for males and remained at 4.4% for females. The youth unemployment rate increased by 0.4ppt to 10.8%.

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, August 2026.

Underemployment

In August 2026, the underemployment rate fell by 0.1ppt to 6.2% and the underutilisation rate remained at 10.8% in seasonally adjusted terms.

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, August 2026.

Participation

In August 2026, the participation rate increased 0.2ppt to 67.1% in seasonally adjusted terms. The participation rate rose by 0.3ppt to 71.0% for males and rose by 0.1ppt to 63.3% for females.

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, August 2026.

Hours worked

In August 2026, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 13.7 million hours to 2,009 million hours in seasonally adjusted terms.

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, August 2026.

In seasonally adjusted terms, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 0.7%, which was larger than the 0.3% rise in employment.

States and Territories

August 2026 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaAustralia
Employed people4,557,0003,831,7003,048,300989,8001,682,600281,10014,836,600
Employed people - monthly change0.1%0.4%0.0%0.1%0.7%-1.0%0.3%
Employment to population ratio63.3%64.3%64.1%61.4%65.4%57.3%63.9%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change-0.1 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.3 pts-0.6 pts0.1 pts
Unemployment rate4.3%5.2%4.5%4.6%4.5%5.0%4.6%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.1 pts0.3 pts0.5 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.2 pts
Underemployment rate5.4%6.8%6.4%6.4%5.8%6.9%6.2%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts-0.2 pts-0.6 pts-0.4 pts0.1 pts-0.2 pts-0.1 pts
Participation rate66.2%67.8%67.1%64.4%68.4%60.3%67.1%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.2 pts0.1 pts0.3 pts0.4 pts-0.7 pts0.2 pts

Seasonally adjusted estimates for NT and ACT are not available due to having no seasonality. The ABS recommends using trend data.

August 2026 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,562,5003,827,9003,051,000989,1001,685,600282,000147,600277,00014,829,400
Employed people - monthly change0.2%0.3%0.2%0.1%0.0%0.1%0.0%0.0%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.4%64.2%64.2%61.4%65.5%57.5%69.3%68.8%63.9%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate4.3%5.1%4.4%4.4%4.4%5.2%4.8%4.0%4.6%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate5.5%6.9%6.5%6.6%5.8%7.1%4.9%6.3%6.3%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.2 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.3%67.7%67.1%64.2%68.5%60.6%72.8%71.6%67.0%
Participation rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts

Data downloads

Update on Labour Force Modernisation and future release plans

The ABS published the article Update on the Labour Force Modernisation and future release plans alongside the July 2026 release. This article provides an update on Modernising the Labour Force Survey, and outlines future Labour Force release plans.

Labour Force status

Data files

Modelled labour market regions (SA4)

The ABS will be releasing a new modelled regional labour market publication from October 2026. From this time, MLF1 will be published in this new publication instead of Labour Force, Australia publication. This release will be published one week after Labour Force, Australia on the fourth Thursday of the month. For full details on future Labour Force release plans, see Update on the Labour Force Modernisation and future release plans.

MLF1. Modelled estimates of Labour force status, by SA4 (ASGS), Age and Sex (pivot table)

Data files
Download xlsx [19.84 MB]

Hours worked

Data files

Status in employment

Data files

Underemployment and underutilisation

Data files

  • Table X28. Underutilised persons by State and Territory and Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original

    Download xlsx [6.4 MB]

  • Table X29. Underutilised persons by Age and Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original

    Download xlsx [5.5 MB]

Table name concordance

This table provides a concordance between the Labour Force data downloads prior to Labour Force Modernisation and the current format. For further details on these changes, see Upcoming changes to Labour Force Survey outputs.

Labour Force Australia – Table name concordance (transition period)

Data files
Download xlsx [12.99 KB]

All spreadsheets

All spreadsheets

Data files
Download zip [391.47 MB]

Data Explorer datasets

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. 

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

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

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

Labour Force underemployment and underutilisation - Number of underutilised persons by region, age and sex, monthly, February 1978 onwards.

Labour Force: Employed persons by Hours worked in all jobs and Sex - Number of people employed and actual weekly hours worked, by detailed hours groups, monthly, January 1991 onwards.

Labour Force: Status in employment of main job and Sex - Number of people employed, by status in employment, monthly, January 1991 onwards.

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

Article archive

Understanding the labour force

Employment and jobs

Unemployment and underemployment

Hours worked

Regional estimates

LFS content and output

Methodology

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6202.0.

Methodology

Labour Force, Australia methodology, August 2026

Articles

Media releases