Labour Force

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 4.7% in September 2026. That is unchanged from 4.7% in August 2026, and up 0.3 percentage points from 4.4% in September 2025.

On the page’s own measures, the unemployment rate is unchanged on the month from August 2026 to September 2026, and up 0.3 percentage points over the year from September 2025 to September 2026. The rate sits below the long-run median of 6.1%, measured across 584 observations since the series began in February 1978. The series low is 3.4% in October 2022 and the high is 11.2% in December 1992.

Employed persons number 14,782,700 in September 2026, down 0.3% from 14,822,000 in August 2026, and up 1.2% from 14,614,300 in September 2025. The page records employment as down 39,300 on the month from August 2026 to September 2026, and up 1.2% over the year from September 2025 to September 2026. The series median is 9,147,700, with a low of 5,997,200 in February 1978 and a high of 14,822,000 in August 2026.

There are no revisions in this release.

The next Labour Force release is due Thu 19 Nov 2026, 11:30 AEDT. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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