Labour Force

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 4.6% in August 2026. That is up 0.1 percentage points from 4.5% in July 2026, and up 0.4 percentage points from 4.2% in August 2025.

On the page’s own measures, the unemployment rate is up 0.1 percentage points on the month from July 2026 to August 2026, and up 0.4 percentage points over the year from August 2025 to August 2026. The August 2026 reading is the highest since November 2021. It sits below the long-run median of 6.1%, measured across 583 observations since the series began in February 1978, within a range from a low of 3.4% in October 2022 to a high of 11.2% in December 1992.

Employed persons number 14,836,600 in August 2026, up 0.3% from 14,797,100 in July 2026 and up 1.6% from 14,598,500 in August 2025. On the page’s own measures, employed persons are up 39,500 on the month from July 2026 to August 2026 and up 1.6% over the year from August 2025 to August 2026. The August 2026 level is the highest since the series began in February 1978, and compares with a long-run median of 9,134,900.

There are no revisions in this release.

The next Labour Force release is due Thu 15 Oct 2026, 11:30 AEDT. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, CC BY 4.0.

Automated release note. Every figure links to the archived release.