Labour Force, Australia

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

Reference period
February 2024
Released
21/03/2024

Key statistics

In trend terms, in February 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.8%. 
  • participation rate decreased to 66.6%.
  • employment increased to 14,232,300.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.1%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.6%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,909 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in February 2024:

  • unemployment rate decreased to 3.7%.
  • participation rate increased to 66.7%.
  • employment increased to 14,269,600.
  • employment to population ratio increased to 64.2%.
  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.6%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,933 million.
  • full-time employment increased by 78,200 to 9,824,900 people.
  • part-time employment increased by 38,300 to 4,444,700 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Jan-24Feb-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,205,60014,232,30026,6000.2%379,9002.7%
Unemployed people565,700562,200-3,500-0.6%52,40010.3%
Unemployment rate3.8%3.8%0.0 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.6%6.6%0.0 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Participation rate66.7%66.6%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,913 million 1,909 million-4 million-0.2%-11 million-0.6%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Jan-24Feb-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,153,10014,269,600116,5000.8%437,1003.2%
Unemployed people600,200548,300-52,000-8.7%35,0006.8%
Unemployment rate4.1%3.7%-0.4 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.7%6.6%-0.1 ptsna0.7 ptsna
Participation rate66.6%66.7%0.1 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,879 million 1,933 million53 million2.8%15 million0.8%

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

Article

As part of ongoing improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics, in this month’s release, the ABS has implemented some minor changes in how it accounts for some relatively small population groups within the sample. This has resulted in revisions to the original Labour Force series from August 2016. Revision analysis from improvements to Labour Force estimation method provides with an impact analysis of the expected improvements to the Labour Force estimates.

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

Quarterly rebenchmarking of labour force statistics

Seasonal adjustment and trend estimates

New Labour Force Survey sample phase-in

Update on enhanced regional labour market data

Survey response and timeline

Unemployment

In trend terms, in February 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.8%.
  • unemployed people decreased by 3,500 to 562,200. 
  • youth unemployment rate remained at 9.3%.

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, February 2024.

Employment

In trend terms, in February 2024, employment increased by 26,600 people (0.2%) to 14,232,300 people.

Flows into and out of 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, February 2024.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in February 2024:

  • full-time employment increased by 13,000 to 9,809,000 people, and part-time employment increased by 13,700 to 4,423,300 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 31.1%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in February 2024, the employment-to-population ratio remained at 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, February 2024.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in February 2024, monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 4.1 million hours (-0.2%) to 1,909 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, February 2024.

Participation

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

  • decreased to 66.6%.
  • decreased to 70.5% for men and decreased to 62.8% 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, February 2024.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in February 2024:

  • underemployment rate remained at 6.6%.
  • underutilisation rate remained at 10.4%.

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, February 2024.

States and Territories

February 2024 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,419,4003,692,4002,903,700945,6001,590,400281,800138,900264,50014,232,300
Employed people - monthly change0.1%0.2%0.4%-0.1%0.4%-0.1%0.6%-0.1%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.6%64.6%64.2%60.8%66.4%58.6%70.5%68.9%64.1%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.4 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.6%3.9%4.0%3.8%3.8%4.3%4.5%4.2%3.8%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.4%7.1%6.9%7.3%6.2%7.2%4.0%5.0%6.6%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.0%67.2%66.8%63.2%69.0%61.2%73.8%71.9%66.6%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.4 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts
February 2024 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,416,7003,700,7002,910,900949,9001,601,700280,800139,400264,40014,269,600
Employed people - monthly change0.6%0.8%1.0%1.2%1.7%-0.1%0.9%1.3%0.8%
Employment to population ratio63.5%64.7%64.3%61.1%66.8%58.3%70.7%68.8%64.2%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.3 pts0.3 pts0.5 pts0.6 pts0.9 pts-0.1 pts0.5 pts0.7 pts0.4 pts
Unemployment rate3.6%3.9%3.9%3.2%3.6%4.5%4.4%4.2%3.7%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.5 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.8 pts-0.7 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.4 pts
Underemployment rate6.3%7.1%6.9%7.3%6.4%7.3%4.1%4.8%6.6%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.3 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.5 pts0.3 pts0.5 pts0.4 pts-0.7 pts-0.1 pts
Participation rate65.9%67.3%66.9%63.1%69.3%61.1%73.9%71.8%66.7%
Participation rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.3 pts0.4 pts0.1 pts0.4 pts-0.1 pts0.5 pts0.6 pts0.1 pts

Historical charts

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