Labour Force, Australia

This is not the latest release View the latest release

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

Reference period
July 2023
Released
17/08/2023

Key statistics

In trend terms, in July 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.
  • participation rate remained at 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,056,100.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,956 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in July 2023:

  • unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.
  • participation rate decreased to 66.7%.
  • employment decreased to 14,026,700.
  • employment to population ratio decreased to 64.3%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,952 million.
  • full-time employment decreased by 24,200 to 9,839,800 people.
  • part-time employment increased by 9,600 to 4,186,900 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Jun-2023Jul-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,028,90014,056,10027,3000.2%398,9002.9%
Unemployed people523,500528,8005,4001.0%24,5004.9%
Unemployment rate3.6%3.6%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.4%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%66.8%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,950 million 1,956 million6 million0.3%100 million5.4%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Jun-2023Jul-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,041,30014,026,700-14,600-0.1%387,1002.8%
Unemployed people505,400541,00035,6007.0%55,50011.4%
Unemployment rate3.5%3.7%0.2 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.4%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%66.7%-0.1 ptsna0.2 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,948 million 1,952 million4 million0.2%97 million5.2%

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 and other information

As Labour Force hours worked data are returning to normal patterns, the ABS ceased publishing the article ‘insights into hours worked’ in the April 2023 publication.  The data cubes EM2a and EM2b, usually published in the detailed release, will continue to be published with the release of Labour Force Survey until August 2023 to enable more detailed analysis of changes in hours worked and the reasons that people are working reduced hours.

Enhanced Regional Labour Market Data

The ABS is developing improved monthly regional labour market statistics. More information on this, including new illustrative estimates and methodology, can be found in the Information Paper that was released on 27 June 2023.

The modelled SA4 level labour force estimates will be implemented into the regular set of Labour Force Survey outputs, and be published on a monthly basis. The first monthly release of the modelled SA4 estimates is expected to be published with the January 2024 Labour Force, Australia, in February 2024.

The modelled estimates will initially be added into Labour Force, Australia, Detailed around a week after it is first published.

Updates on hours worked statistics

Monthly hours worked in all jobs series were rebenchmarked in July 2023, through the standard annual process. The rebenchmarking resulted in minor revisions to all monthly hours worked in all jobs series.

Survey response and timeline

The July Labour Force Survey was run in respect of the two weeks from Sunday 2 July to Saturday 15 July, and collected over the period from Sunday 9 June to Saturday 29 July.

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
Jun-234th June 202317th June 202311th June 20231st July 2023
Jul-232nd July 202315th July 20239th July 202329th July 2023
Aug-2330th July 202312th August 20236th August 202326th August 2023
Sep-233rd September 202316th September 202310th September 202330th September 2023
Oct-231st October 202314th October 20238th October 202328th October 2023
Nov-2329th October 202311th November 20235th November 202325th November 2023

Unemployment

In trend terms, in July 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.
  • unemployed people increased by 5,400 to 528,800. 
  • youth unemployment rate increased to 8.3%.

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, July 2023.

Employment

In trend terms, in July 2023, employment increased by 27,300 people (0.2%) to 14,056,100 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 July 2023, the net change in the number of employed people is the result of around 500,000 people entering employment (i.e. they were not employed in June but were employed in July), while around 511,000 people left employment (i.e. they were employed in June but not employed in July). This contrasts with June 2023, where around 446,000 people entered employment and around 517,000 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, July 2023.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in July 2023:

  • full-time employment increased by 23,000 to 9,869,100 people, and part-time employment increased by 4,300 to 4,187,000 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 29.8%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in July 2023, the employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.4%.

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, July 2023.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in July 2023, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 5.7 million hours (0.3%) to 1,956 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, July 2023.

Participation

In trend terms, in July 2023, the participation rate:

  • remained at 66.8%.
  • remained at 71.3% for men and remained at 62.5% 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, July 2023.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in July 2023:

  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • underutilisation rate remained at 10.0%.

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, July 2023.

States and Territories

July 2023 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,358,0003,651,8002,849,300953,8001,540,200289,200139,100264,30014,056,100
Employed people - monthly change0.2%0.4%0.3%0.1%0.1%-0.2%-0.3%0.0%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.8%65.2%63.8%61.8%66.1%59.9%70.7%70.1%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts-0.3 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.2%3.6%4.1%4.1%3.5%4.2%3.3%3.3%3.6%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.1%6.1%6.7%7.3%5.9%7.3%3.5%5.1%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate65.9%67.7%66.5%64.4%68.5%62.5%73.2%72.5%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.4 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
July 2023 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,348,5003,654,3002,831,600953,0001,541,300287,100138,000263,50014,026,700
Employed people - monthly change-0.6%0.5%-0.8%0.4%1.0%-1.0%-0.2%-0.2%-0.1%
Employment to population ratio63.7%65.3%63.4%61.7%66.1%59.5%70.2%69.9%64.3%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change-0.5 pts0.1 pts-0.7 pts0.1 pts0.5 pts-0.7 pts-0.2 pts-0.3 pts-0.2 pts
Unemployment rate3.3%3.6%4.5%4.0%3.4%4.7%3.9%3.8%3.7%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.4 pts-0.1 pts0.8 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts1.2 pts0.5 pts-0.1 pts0.2 pts
Underemployment rate6.1%6.3%6.9%7.6%5.9%7.3%3.3%5.1%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.2 pts-0.2 pts0.2 pts0.4 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate65.8%67.7%66.4%64.3%68.4%62.4%73.0%72.7%66.7%
Participation rate - monthly change-0.3 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts0.3 pts0.1 pts0.2 pts-0.4 pts-0.1 pts

Historical charts

Historical charts for employed, unemployed, unemployment rate and participation rate from August 1966 to July 2023

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.