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
June 2023
Released
20/07/2023

Key statistics

In trend terms, in June 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.5%.
  • participation rate remained at 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,045,800.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.5%.
  • underemployment rate increased to 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,956 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in June 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.5%.
  • participation rate decreased to 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,046,100.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.5%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,947 million.
  • full-time employment increased by 39,300 to 9,868,900 people.
  • part-time employment decreased by 6,700 to 4,177,100 people.
Key statistics - Trend
May-2023Jun-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,006,80014,045,80039,0000.3%422,3003.1%
Unemployed people507,000505,500-1,600-0.3%-9,100-1.8%
Unemployment rate3.5%3.5%0.0 ptsna-0.2 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.3%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%66.8%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,946 million 1,956 million10 million0.5%104 million5.6%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
May-2023Jun-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,013,50014,046,10032,6000.2%409,9003.0%
Unemployed people515,300504,400-10,900-2.1%-1,600-0.3%
Unemployment rate3.5%3.5%-0.1 ptsna-0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.4%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Participation rate66.9%66.8%-0.1 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,941 million 1,947 million6 million0.3%88 million4.7%

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 headline estimates until the end of the winter months in 2023 (exact timing to be confirmed) to enable more detailed analysis of changes in hours worked and the reasons that people are working reduced hours.

Enhanced Regional Labour Market Data

Survey response and timeline

Unemployment

In trend terms, in June 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.5%.
  • unemployed people decreased by 1,600 to 505,500. 
  • youth unemployment rate decreased to 7.7%.

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, June 2023.

Employment

In trend terms, in June 2023, employment increased by 39,000 people (0.3%) to 14,045,800 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, June 2023.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in June 2023:

  • full-time employment increased by 35,400 to 9,864,500 people, and part-time employment increased by 3,600 to 4,181,300 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 29.8%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in June 2023, the employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.5%.

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, June 2023.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in June 2023, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 10.3 million hours (0.5%) 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, June 2023.

Participation

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

  • remained at 66.8%.
  • remained at 71.2% for men and increased to 62.6% 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, June 2023.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in June 2023:

  • underemployment rate increased to 6.4%.
  • underutilisation rate remained at 9.8%.

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, June 2023.

States and Territories

June 2023 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,367,1003,636,0002,852,400952,2001,533,400291,100141,100265,20014,045,800
Employed people - monthly change0.3%0.4%0.5%0.1%-0.1%0.1%-0.1%0.2%0.3%
Employment to population ratio64.1%65.1%64.0%61.8%66.0%60.3%71.8%70.5%64.5%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.1 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.1%3.7%3.8%4.0%3.6%3.8%3.3%3.1%3.5%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.2%6.2%6.6%7.1%5.9%7.3%3.7%5.0%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.1%67.6%66.6%64.4%68.5%62.7%74.3%72.7%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.3 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
June 2023 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,373,8003,636,1002,855,600948,9001,527,100290,400137,800264,20014,046,100
Employed people - monthly change0.4%0.2%0.0%-0.8%-0.6%-0.1%-3.2%-1.4%0.2%
Employment to population ratio64.2%65.1%64.1%61.6%65.7%60.2%70.2%70.3%64.5%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts-0.6 pts-0.6 pts-0.2 pts-2.5 pts-1.1 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate2.9%3.7%3.6%4.2%3.6%3.5%3.3%3.9%3.5%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.3 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts-0.7 pts0.2 pts0.8 pts-0.1 pts
Underemployment rate6.2%6.5%6.7%7.1%5.9%7.3%3.6%5.0%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.7 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts-0.4 pts0.4 pts-1.0 pts-0.3 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.1%67.6%66.5%64.3%68.2%62.4%72.6%73.1%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.4 pts-0.5 pts-0.6 pts-0.6 pts-2.4 pts-0.5 pts-0.1 pts

Historical charts

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