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
September 2023
Released
19/10/2023

Key statistics

In trend terms, in September 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.6%. 
  • participation rate remained at 66.8%.
  • employment increased to 14,115,100.
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate remained at 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,940 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in September 2023:

  • unemployment rate decreased to 3.6%.
  • participation rate decreased to 66.7%.
  • employment increased to 14,111,200.
  • employment to population ratio decreased to 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.4%.
  • monthly hours worked decreased to 1,930 million.
  • full-time employment decreased by 39,900 to 9,806,400 people.
  • part-time employment increased by 46,500 to 4,304,800 people.
Key statistics - Trend
Aug-2023Sep-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,092,00014,115,10023,0000.2%385,9002.8%
Unemployed people522,100521,700-400-0.1%27,0005.5%
Unemployment rate3.6%3.6%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.4%6.4%0.0 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Participation rate66.8%66.8%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,942 million 1,940 million-2 million-0.1%62 million3.3%
Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Aug-2023Sep-2023Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,104,50014,111,2006,7000.0%394,3002.9%
Unemployed people540,300520,500-19,800-3.7%11,0002.2%
Unemployment rate3.7%3.6%-0.1 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.5%6.4%-0.2 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Participation rate67.0%66.7%-0.2 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,938 million 1,930 million-8 million-0.4%55 million2.9%

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

From the September 2023 publication onwards, data cubes EM2a and EM2b will only be available in the Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, due to be released 26 October 2023.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is developing improved monthly regional labour force estimates. A new information paper will be released on 30th October 2023. It will build upon the information paper published in June 2023, including more up-to-date estimates and details on enhancements made to the methodology.

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.

Upcoming improvements to Labour Force estimation method

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.

ABS 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.

This minor change will result in a small improvement in the quality of estimates, but there will be minimal effect on headline Labour Force estimates. The national participation rate is expected to change by less than 0.1 percentage point and the unemployment rate will remain unchanged.

In order to minimise the number of changes and associated revisions, these small estimation changes will be implemented at the same time as the next quarterly population rebenchmarking process (with November 2023, to be released on 14 December 2023), which will also coincide with the major rebenchmarking related to the final rebasing of population estimates to the 2021 Census.

In making these changes, the estimation method will be backcast to the commencement of the previous sample selection, which was introduced in July 2018.

Further information will be provided in the October 2023 release on 16 November.

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. A second information paper with more up-to-date estimates and methodological enhancements will be released on 30th October 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.

Survey response and timeline

The September Labour Force Survey was run in respect of the two weeks from Sunday 3 September to Saturday 16 September, and collected over the period from Sunday 10 September to Saturday 30 September.

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
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
Dec-2326th November 20239th December 20233rd December 202320th December 2023
Jan-2431st December 202313th January 20247th January 202427th January 2024

Unemployment

In trend terms, in September 2023:

  • unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.
  • unemployed people decreased by 400 to 521,700. 
  • youth unemployment rate remained at 8.1%.

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, September 2023.

Employment

In trend terms, in September 2023, employment increased by 23,000 people (0.2%) to 14,115,100 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 September 2023, the net change in the number of employed people is the result of around 508,000 people entering employment (i.e. they were not employed in August but were employed in September), while around 469,000 people left employment (i.e. they were employed in August but not employed in September). This contrasts with August 2023, where around 513,000 people entered employment and around 467,000 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, September 2023.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in September 2023:

  • full-time employment decreased by 600 to 9,845,500 people, and part-time employment increased by 23,600 to 4,269,600 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 30.2%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in September 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, September 2023.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in September 2023, monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased by 2.2 million hours (-0.1%) to 1,940 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, September 2023.

Participation

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

  • remained at 66.8%.
  • decreased to 71.2% 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, September 2023.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in September 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, September 2023.

States and Territories

September 2023 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,372,2003,661,1002,855,400957,1001,562,400290,000137,500266,50014,115,100
Employed people - monthly change0.2%0.2%0.2%0.3%0.3%0.1%-0.2%0.2%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.8%65.1%63.7%61.9%66.4%60.1%69.8%70.5%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.3%3.5%4.0%3.7%3.4%4.4%3.9%3.4%3.6%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate6.2%6.5%6.9%7.5%5.8%6.4%3.9%4.7%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts
Participation rate66.0%67.5%66.3%64.3%68.8%62.9%72.7%73.0%66.8%
Participation rate - monthly change0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts
September 2023 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,366,4003,652,6002,853,000956,7001,564,000291,200138,000266,30014,111,200
Employed people - monthly change-0.1%0.0%0.2%-0.2%-0.2%0.6%0.2%-0.3%0.0%
Employment to population ratio63.7%64.9%63.6%61.9%66.4%60.4%70.1%70.4%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change-0.2 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts-0.3 pts0.3 pts0.1 pts-0.4 pts-0.1 pts
Unemployment rate3.3%3.5%3.9%3.7%3.3%4.2%4.1%3.9%3.6%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.2 pts0.0 pts-0.2 pts0.1 pts-0.5 pts-0.2 pts-0.2 pts0.7 pts-0.1 pts
Underemployment rate6.0%6.6%6.9%7.2%5.8%6.1%3.9%4.5%6.4%
Underemployment rate - monthly change-0.4 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.7 pts-0.1 pts-0.6 pts-0.4 pts0.9 pts-0.2 pts
Participation rate65.9%67.2%66.2%64.3%68.7%63.0%73.1%73.2%66.7%
Participation rate - monthly change-0.4 pts-0.2 pts-0.2 pts-0.2 pts-0.7 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts-0.2 pts

Historical charts

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