Labour Force, Australia

Latest release

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

Reference period
November 2024
Released
12/12/2024
  • Next Release 16/01/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, December 2024
  • Next Release 20/02/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, January 2025
  • Next Release 20/03/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, February 2025
  • View all releases

Key statistics

In trend terms, in November 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 4.0%. 
  • participation rate remained at 67.1%.
  • employment increased to 14,544,200. 
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.2%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,970 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in November 2024:

  • unemployment rate decreased to 3.9%.
  • participation rate decreased to 67.0%.
  • employment increased to 14,535,500.
  • employment to population ratio increased to 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.1%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,965 million.
  • full-time employment increased by 52,600 to 10,068,100 people.
  • part-time employment decreased by 17,000 to 4,467,400 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Oct-24Nov-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,508,70014,544,20035,5000.2%389,3002.8%
Unemployed people609,700605,800-3,900-0.6%38,0006.7%
Unemployment rate4.0%4.0%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.2%6.2%0.0 ptsna-0.4 ptsna
Participation rate67.1%67.1%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs1,965 million1,970 million5 million0.2%49 million2.6%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Oct-24Nov-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,499,90014,535,50035,6000.2%334,5002.4%
Unemployed people622,300595,300-27,000-4.3%14,7002.5%
Unemployment rate4.1%3.9%-0.2 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.2%6.1%-0.1 ptsna-0.6 ptsna
Participation rate67.1%67.0%-0.1 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs1,965 million1,965 million0 million0.0%40 million2.1%

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

Survey collection

Quarterly rebenchmarking of labour force statistics

Survey response and timeline

Unemployment

In trend terms, in November 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 4.0%.
  • unemployed people decreased by 3,900 to 605,800. 
  • youth unemployment rate decreased to 8.9%.

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, November 2024.

Employment

In trend terms, in November 2024, employment increased by 35,500 people (0.2%) to 14,544,200 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, November 2024.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in November 2024:

  • full-time employment increased by 25,200 to 10,056,200 people, and part-time employment increased by 10,300 to 4,488,000 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 30.9%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in November 2024, 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, November 2024.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in November 2024, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 4.9 million hours (0.2%) to 1,970 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, November 2024.

Participation

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

  • remained at 67.1%.
  • remained at 71.3% for men and 63.0% 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, November 2024.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in November 2024:

  • underemployment rate remained at 6.2%.
  • underutilisation rate remained at 10.2%.

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, November 2024.

States and Territories

November 2024 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,479,9003,808,8002,985,200950,0001,630,500279,800138,200273,30014,544,200
Employed people - monthly change0.2%0.3%0.4%0.2%0.4%0.0%-0.2%0.3%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.6%65.4%64.7%60.4%66.5%57.9%68.9%70.2%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate4.0%4.4%3.9%4.0%3.6%4.1%4.4%3.2%4.0%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate5.9%6.4%6.3%7.4%5.4%7.5%4.4%4.5%6.2%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.2%68.4%67.3%62.9%68.9%60.3%72.0%72.6%67.1%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
November 2024 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,483,4003,805,8002,987,100947,4001,631,600279,800138,000273,40014,535,500
Employed people - monthly change0.9%0.3%-0.2%-0.7%0.9%0.5%-0.4%0.5%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.6%65.3%64.7%60.2%66.5%57.8%68.8%70.3%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.4 pts0.1 pts-0.3 pts-0.5 pts0.5 pts0.2 pts-0.4 pts0.2 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.9%4.2%3.9%3.9%3.3%3.9%3.9%2.9%3.9%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts-0.4 pts0.1 pts-0.3 pts-0.8 pts-0.2 pts-0.7 pts-0.2 pts-0.2 pts
Underemployment rate5.9%6.2%6.1%7.3%5.5%7.3%4.3%4.8%6.1%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts-0.3 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts-0.8 pts0.1 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts
Participation rate66.2%68.2%67.4%62.7%68.8%60.2%71.6%72.4%67.0%
Participation rate - monthly change0.4 pts-0.2 pts-0.3 pts-0.7 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts-0.9 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts

Historical charts

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