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
October 2023
Released
16/11/2023

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

New Labour Force Survey sample phase-in

Major rebenchmarking of labour force estimates

Update on enhanced regional labour market data

Survey response and timeline

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

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