Australia Jobless Rate Above Forecasts

2026-08-20 01:37 By Chusnul Chotimah 1 min. read

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment edged up to 4.5% in July, surpassing both market expectations and June’s figure of 4.4%.

It was the highest reading in three months, as the number of unemployed rose by 4,200 to 691,500 from 687,400 in June, with the number of full-time employed people advancing by 6,100 to 462,900, while the number of part-time employed people dropped by 1,900 to 228,700.

Employment fell unexpectedly by 15,800 to 14.81 million, defying expectations for a 15,000 increase, following an upwardly revised gain of 80,300 jobs in June, marking the first decline in three months.

Part-time employment dropped by 32,200 to a three-month low of 4.60 million, while full-time employment increased by 16,300 to 10.21 million.

The participation rate inched down to 66.9%, in line with expectations.

The underemployment rate stood at 6.4%, unchanged from a downwardly revised figure in June.

Total monthly hours worked across all jobs decreased by 12 million to 2,010 million.



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Australia Jobless Rate Above Forecasts
Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment edged up to 4.5% in July, surpassing both market expectations and June’s figure of 4.4%. It was the highest reading in three months, as the number of unemployed rose by 4,200 to 691,500 from 687,400 in June, with the number of full-time employed people advancing by 6,100 to 462,900, while the number of part-time employed people dropped by 1,900 to 228,700. Employment fell unexpectedly by 15,800 to 14.81 million, defying expectations for a 15,000 increase, following an upwardly revised gain of 80,300 jobs in June, marking the first decline in three months. Part-time employment dropped by 32,200 to a three-month low of 4.60 million, while full-time employment increased by 16,300 to 10.21 million. The participation rate inched down to 66.9%, in line with expectations. The underemployment rate stood at 6.4%, unchanged from a downwardly revised figure in June. Total monthly hours worked across all jobs decreased by 12 million to 2,010 million.
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Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.4% in June, in line with both market expectations and May’s figure. The number of unemployed rose by 12,700 to 686,800 from 674,100 in May, with the number of full-time job seekers increasing by 13,300 to 457,300, while the number of part-time job seekers fell by 600 to 229,500. Employment increased by 76,300 to a record high of 14.82 million, surpassing estimates of a 15,000 increase, following an upwardly revised gain of 43,900 jobs in May. Full-time employment climbed by 29,300 to 10.17 million, while part-time employment increased by 47,100 to 4.65 million. The participation rate ticked up to 67.0% from both May's figure and market expectations of 66.7%, marking its highest level since July 2025. The underemployment rate edged up to 6.5% from 6.3%. Meanwhile, total monthly hours worked across all jobs increased by 5 million to 2,014 million.
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Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched down to 4.4% in May, from April’s more than four-year high of 4.5%, in line with market expectations. The number of unemployed fell by 18,300 to 671,300 from 689,600 in April, with the number of part-time job seekers falling by 9,700 to 230,500, while the number of full-time job seekers dropped by 8,600 to 440,800. Employment increased by 40,300 to 14.74 million, surpassing estimates for a 30,000 rise, the strongest employment gain since December, rebounding from an upwardly revised loss of 40,700 jobs in April. Full-time employment rose by 5,200 to 10.14 million, while part-time employment increased by 35,200 to 4.60 million. The participation rate edged up to 66.7% from a downwardly revised 66.6% in April, which was the lowest level in five months, matching market estimates. The underemployment rate inched up to 5.9% from 5.8%. Meanwhile, total monthly hours worked across all jobs decreased by 22 million to 2,010 million.
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