Australia’s jobless rate held steady at 4.2 per cent in August as fewer people looked for work and full-time positions declined, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: ‘Employment fell by 5,000 people and the number of unemployed fell by 1,000 people in August.
‘This meant that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 per cent whilst the participation rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 66.8 per cent.’
The employment-to-population ratio eased by 0.1 percentage points to 64.0 per cent. A 41,000 drop in full-time jobs drove the overall fall in employment, partly offset by a 36,000 rise in part-time roles. Full-time employment fell by 30,000 for females and 11,000 for males, while part-time employment rose by 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,’ Mr Crick said.
Seasonally adjusted indices benchmarked to June 2022 showed employment at 107.7 and hours worked at 106.8 in August 2025.
Labour market spare capacity narrowed modestly. The underemployment rate dipped 0.1 percentage points to 5.7 per cent, 0.8 percentage points lower than August 2024 and 3.0 points below March 2020. The underutilisation rate — unemployment plus underemployment — fell 0.1 percentage points to 9.9 per cent, 0.7 points lower than a year earlier and 4.0 points below March 2020.
On underlying trend measures, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 per cent. Employment rose by around 18,000 people (0.1 per cent) in August and was up 1.7 per cent over the year. Monthly hours worked increased by 0.1 per cent, with annual growth in both hours and employment at 1.7 per cent. ‘In trend terms, the participation rate remained at 66.9 per cent in August, while the employment-to-population ratio stayed at 64.1 per cent,’ Mr Crick said.
Trend underemployment was steady at 5.8 per cent and the trend underutilisation rate eased to 10.0 per cent.
The ABS said more detailed regional labour market data will be released in the August 2025 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, on Thursday 25 September 2025. The August survey reference period was 3–16 August 2025. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
