The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has reported that its seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady at 4.2 per cent in August.
ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick confirmed that employment fell by 5,000 people, while the number of unemployed fell by 1,000 in August, leading to the flat movement. However, the participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 66.8 per cent.
The employment-to-population ratio fell by 0.1 percentage points to 64.0 per cent.
A fall in full-time employment (down 41,000 people) drove the overall drop in employment numbers. Meanwhile, part-time employment saw a 36,000 person rise.
Females who were employed full-time went down by 30,000 people, and males in full-time employment dropped by 11,000.
There was a rise in part-time employment for both females and males, up 18,000 and 17,000 respectively.
“Hours worked fell 0.4 per cent in August, supported by less people working full-time hours this month,” Crick said.
The underemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent in August. This was 0.8 percentage points lower than August 2024, and 3.0 percentage points lower than March 2020, according to the ABS.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, fell by 0.1 percentage points to 9.9 per cent. This was 0.7 percentage points lower than August 2024, and 4.0 percentage points lower than March 2020.
However, numbers at Roy Morgan paint a different picture, with its August numbers showing unemployment increasing by 132,000 people to 1.776 million. This is up 0.8 per cent to 11.1 per cent of the workforce.
Roy Morgan noted this is the first time over 1.7 million Australians have been unemployed and over 1.7 million Australians have been under-employed in the same month.
Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size, adding together the employed and unemployed, which was at 15,992,000 people, up 62,000 on a month ago, and representing 69.2 per cent of Australians aged 14 and above.
The workforce rise was driven by rising unemployment, up by 132,000. In contrast, overall employment fell 70,000 to 14,216,000 due to falling part-time employment, down 105,000 to 4,992,000. Full-time employment was up 35,000 to 9,224,000. Overall employment represents 61.5 per cent of Australians aged 14 and above.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the notable spike in unemployment in August 2025 is the highest level of overall unemployment and under-employment for over five years since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The movements in the Australian labour market in August show a continuing weakness with full-time employment down over 160,000 from the same month a year ago, although part-time employment has taken up some of the slack and is up over 90,000 compared to August 2024,” Levine said.
“Looking longer-term, overall Australian unemployment and under-employment has been in excess of 3 million for nine straight months since late 2024. This is around double the latest ABS unemployment and under-employment estimate for June 2025 (10.1% of the workforce, 1,551,000).
“The continuing high level of unemployment and under-employment in the Australian labour force must be a key focus for the newly re-elected Albanese Government as it considers what policies to prioritise over the next few years.”