Labour Force, Australia

Latest release

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

Reference period
October 2023
Released
16/11/2023
  • Next Release 14/12/2023
    Labour Force, Australia, November 2023
  • Next Release 18/01/2024
    Labour Force, Australia, December 2023
  • Next Release 15/02/2024
    Labour Force, Australia, January 2024
  • View all releases

Key statistics

In trend terms, in October 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.7%. 
  • participation rate decreased to 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,145,400.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,937 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in October 2023:

  • unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.
  • participation rate increased to 67.0%.
  • employment increased to 14,173,500.
  • employment to population ratio increased to 64.5%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.3%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,939 million.
  • full-time employment increased by 17,000 to 9,828,000 people.
  • part-time employment increased by 37,900 to 4,345,500 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Sep-2023Oct-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,117,10014,145,40028,3000.2%386,7002.8%
Unemployed people538,500542,1003,6000.7%46,0009.3%
Unemployment rate3.7%3.7%0.0 ptsna0.2 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.4%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate66.9%66.8%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,940 million 1,937 million-2 million-0.1%50 million2.6%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Sep-23Oct-23Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,118,50014,173,50055,0000.4%418,9003.0%
Unemployed people519,900547,80027,9005.4%64,00013.2%
Unemployment rate3.6%3.7%0.2 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.3%6.3%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%67.0%0.2 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,930 million 1,939 million9 million0.5%33 million1.7%

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

Change to the timing of the introduction of the improved estimation method

As previously noted, the ABS has identified improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics.

In finalising the improved estimation approach, additional improvements have been identified and will be incorporated. The improved method will now be introduced, along with the associated revisions, with the release of February 2024 estimates (on 21 March 2024) and not with November 2023 estimates (on 14 December 2023) as previously advised. Further information on this is provided below.

Upcoming improvements to the Labour Force estimation method in early 2024

As part of ongoing improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics, the ABS will make some minor changes in how it accounts for some relatively small population groups within the sample.

There are various small groups, which together account for less than 2 per cent of the overall sample, who are more difficult to survey each month, contribute a higher degree of underlying sampling variability, and for whom there is more reliable auxiliary data sources (e.g. regular administrative data). This includes some people who don’t live in private dwellings and some people who live in remote and very remote parts of Australia.

As stated on 19 October 2023, ABS research and analysis has shown that estimation models that draw on auxiliary data for these groups produce a better quality contribution for them to aggregate Labour Force statistics.

Since then, in finalising the improved estimation model, the ABS has identified further improvements in how the auxiliary data should be used within these models.

Given many, but not all, of these groups have a relatively higher proportion of people who are not in the labour force, the optimised estimation method will better account for these people and their labour force characteristics. For recent years, this will generally mean an increase in the level and reduce the variability in the aggregate estimate of persons not in the labour force, along with corresponding changes to the employed and unemployed estimates.

The revisions to the participation rate will therefore now be greater than was noted in the 19 October release, while there will still be relatively little change in the unemployment rate.

In order to afford time to incorporate these further improvements into the method, the ABS will now introduce the new method with the February 2024 release (and quarterly population rebenchmarking revisions) on 21 March 2024, and not in the November 2023 release on 14 December 2023 as previously advised.

Further information, including on revisions, will be provided in the January 2024 release on 15 February.

New Labour Force Survey sample phase-in

Since July 2018, the Labour Force Survey sample has been selected using information collected in the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.  The quality of the Labour Force sample is maintained by updating it with information from the most recent Census.

From September 2023, the sample frame has been updated with information from the 2021 Census, with sample selection from the new sample being phased in over eight months from September 2023 to April 2024.

This update is expected to have minimal impact on sample selection, and as with previous sample changes, will be monitored.

For more information please refer to Sample Design of Labour Force, Australia Methodology.

Major rebenchmarking of labour force estimates

In the November 2023 publication, to be released on 14 December 2023, the Labour Force population benchmarks will be updated to reflect the latest estimated resident population (ERP) based on the 2021 Census (final rebased ERP).

This is a regular 5-yearly rebasing process which follows each Census, and ensures the Labour Force estimates are benchmarked to the most recent population information.

This process will result in minor revisions to Labour Force estimates going back to 2016. This follows a similar process to that undertaken in 2018.

Update on enhanced regional labour market data

As part of ongoing improvements to the estimation method for Labour Force statistics, the ABS is also developing improved monthly regional labour force estimates.

A new information paper was released on 30th October 2023 with the following updates on progress towards releasing higher quality regional labour force statistics:

  • refinements to the model that will be used to produce improved SA4 level estimates
  • updated SA4 estimates through to August 2023, based on the refined version of the model
  • information on release plans, including timing
  • plans to continue enhancing regional labour force statistics through modelling finer level sub-state estimates.

The ABS has also released a research paper, A Rao-Yu model for small area estimation of labour force statistics, with additional details on the Rao-Yu area-level time series model used to produce these estimates.

The first release of the information paper on this project was in June 2023.

Survey response and timeline

The October Labour Force Survey was run in respect of the two weeks from Sunday 1 October to Saturday 14 October, and collected over the period from Sunday 8 October to Saturday 28 October.

As seen in the recent weekly payroll jobs data, the referendum will have contributed to some temporary growth in employment, hours and participation in October. However, the temporary effect of referendums and elections on Labour Force employment measures cannot be specifically identified. It is important to note that some temporary jobs growth will not translate into employment growth, if a person works in a temporary job as a secondary job. It is also important to note that only the second of the two reference weeks for the survey includes the referendum date.

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
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
Dec-2326th November 20239th December 20233rd December 202320th December 2023
Jan-2431st December 202313th January 20247th January 202427th January 2024
Feb-244th February 202417th February 202411th February 20242nd March 2024

Unemployment

In trend terms, in October 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.7%.
  • unemployed people increased by 3,600 to 542,100. 
  • youth unemployment rate increased to 8.7%.

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, October 2023.

Employment

In trend terms, in October 2023, employment increased by 28,300 people (0.2%) to 14,145,400 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 October 2023, the net change in the number of employed people is the result of around 493,000 people entering employment (i.e. they were not employed in September but were employed in October), while around 459,000 people left employment (i.e. they were employed in September but not employed in October). This contrasts with September 2023, where around 508,000 people entered employment and around 469,000 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, October 2023.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in October 2023:

  • full-time employment increased by 2,000 to 9,831,900 people, and part-time employment increased by 26,300 to 4,313,500 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 30.5%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in October 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, October 2023.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in October 2023, monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 2.3 million hours (-0.1%) to 1,937 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, October 2023.

Participation

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

  • decreased to 66.8%.
  • decreased to 71.1% for men and increased to 62.7% 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, October 2023.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in October 2023:

  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • underutilisation rate remained at 10.1%.

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, October 2023.

States and Territories

October 2023 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,384,7003,680,1002,859,900959,3001,571,700288,400137,900267,60014,145,400
Employed people - monthly change0.2%0.2%0.2%0.3%0.4%-0.1%0.1%0.3%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.8%65.3%63.6%62.0%66.6%59.7%70.0%70.6%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.4%3.6%4.2%3.6%3.7%4.3%4.1%3.5%3.7%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.2%6.5%6.9%7.5%5.8%6.5%4.4%5.0%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.2 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.1%67.7%66.4%64.3%69.1%62.4%73.0%73.2%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
October 2023 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,387,7003,687,1002,864,700959,0001,574,300286,900139,800268,30014,173,500
Employed people - monthly change0.5%0.9%0.4%0.2%0.6%-1.4%1.2%0.7%0.4%
Employment to population ratio63.9%65.3%63.7%61.9%66.7%59.4%71.0%70.8%64.5%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.1 pts0.4 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.2 pts-0.9 pts0.8 pts0.4 pts0.1 pts
Unemployment rate3.4%3.8%4.3%3.6%3.8%4.0%4.0%3.9%3.7%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.3 pts0.4 pts-0.1 pts0.5 pts-0.2 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.2 pts
Underemployment rate6.2%6.4%6.7%7.4%5.7%6.6%4.9%5.0%6.3%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.2 pts-0.2 pts-0.2 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts0.5 pts0.9 pts0.3 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.1%67.9%66.5%64.3%69.3%61.9%73.9%73.6%67.0%
Participation rate - monthly change0.2 pts0.7 pts0.3 pts0.0 pts0.5 pts-1.1 pts0.7 pts0.4 pts0.2 pts

Historical charts

Historical charts for employed, unemployed, unemployment rate and participation rate from August 1966 to October 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.