Australia unemployment rate is the main published jobless share of labour force (employed plus unemployed) from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Labour Force Survey. It covers resident civilian population 15+ (people living in Australia, excluding defence, diplomats and overseas residents) using about 24,000 dwellings (about 50,000 people). Each home stays 8 months with 1 in 8 replaced monthly, so 7 in 8 overlaps; the survey runs since 1960, monthly since February 1978. It is not all jobless: discouraged seekers (gave up searching) sit outside labour force (employed plus unemployed), while 1 hour paid work counts as employed.
Interviews run over 2 weeks from Sunday between 5th and 11th, covering prior reference week (survey week); December and January shift around holidays. Results appear about 39 days later, usually third Thursday of next month, at 11:30am Canberra time (December 46 days); detailed data follow 7 days later. Each release shows jobs, underemployment (wanting more hours), participation (workforce share) and hours with monthly and yearly change; benchmarks revise quarterly, seasonal patterns update monthly. A lower rate means smaller jobless share; trend (smoothed direction) guides better than monthly moves given sampling error (survey uncertainty).
Moves come from hiring, job search and population shifts that change jobless counts or labour force size.
| Date | Actual | Forecast | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2026 | — | 4.60 | — |
| Sep 24, 2026 | 4.60 | 4.50 | +0.10 |
| Aug 20, 2026 | 4.50 | 4.40 | +0.10 |
| Jul 23, 2026 | 4.40 | 4.40 | 0.00 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | 4.40 | 4.40 | 0.00 |
| May 21, 2026 | 4.50 | 4.30 | +0.20 |
| Apr 16, 2026 | 4.30 | 4.30 | 0.00 |
| Jul 17, 2025 | 4.30 | 4.10 | +0.20 |
| Jun 19, 2025 | 4.10 | 4.10 | 0.00 |
| May 15, 2025 | 4.10 | 4.10 | 0.00 |
| Apr 17, 2025 | 4.10 | 4.20 | -0.10 |
| Mar 20, 2025 | 4.10 | 4.10 | 0.00 |
| Jul 18, 2024 | 4.10 | 4.00 | +0.10 |
| Jun 13, 2024 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 0.00 |
| May 16, 2024 | 4.10 | 3.90 | +0.20 |
| Apr 18, 2024 | 3.80 | 3.90 | -0.10 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | 3.70 | 4.00 | -0.30 |
| Jul 20, 2023 | 3.50 | 3.60 | -0.10 |
| Jun 15, 2023 | 3.60 | 3.70 | -0.10 |
| May 18, 2023 | 3.70 | 3.50 | +0.20 |
| Apr 13, 2023 | 3.50 | 3.60 | -0.10 |
| Mar 16, 2023 | 3.50 | 3.60 | -0.10 |
| Jul 14, 2022 | 3.50 | 3.80 | -0.30 |
| Jun 16, 2022 | 3.90 | 3.80 | +0.10 |
| May 19, 2022 | 3.90 | 3.90 | 0.00 |
| Apr 14, 2022 | 4.00 | 3.90 | +0.10 |
| Mar 17, 2022 | 4.00 | 4.10 | -0.10 |
In October 2022 (released November 17, 2022) the seasonally adjusted rate fell 0.1 pts to 3.4%, matching the monthly series record low. Employment rose about 32,000 to 13,617,900 while unemployed fell about 21,000 to 477,600, so the low reflected hiring not labour force exits. Men fell 0.3 pts to 3.2%, lowest since November 1974, while women held at 3.6%, showing split composition. Participation (workforce share) held at 66.5%, 0.2 below June 2022 record 66.7% but 0.7 above pre-pandemic, confirming genuine tightness (strong hiring demand).
Key point: Joblessness alone is not unemployed; you must have searched in past 4 weeks and been available. Discouraged seekers (gave up searching) sit outside the labour force. Even 1 hour paid work counts as employed, with extra-hour wants shown as underemployment (wanting more hours).
