The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.4 per cent in May, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “Over the past few months, we have recorded higher proportions of unemployed people waiting to start jobs who then remained unemployed in the following month.
“The backlog of people waiting to start a job has eased in May, contributing to the 40,000 rise in employment and 18,000 fall in unemployed persons.”
Full-time employment grew by 5,000 and part-time employment by 35,000.
The underemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 5.9 per cent in May.
Hours worked was down 1.1 per cent in May after a 0.9 per cent rise last month.
“In April, less people took leave during the Easter holiday period and instead worked their usual hours, contributing to non-seasonal strength in hours worked,” Mr Crick said.
“The fall this month brings hours worked back in line with employment growth since the end of the pandemic in June 2022.”
| Employed (Index) | Hours Worked (Index) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jun-22 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Jul-22 | 100.1 | 99.8 |
| Aug-22 | 100.6 | 101.0 |
| Sep-22 | 100.6 | 101.2 |
| Oct-22 | 100.9 | 103.0 |
| Nov-22 | 101.4 | 102.7 |
| Dec-22 | 101.4 | 102.7 |
| Jan-23 | 101.6 | 103.6 |
| Feb-23 | 101.9 | 103.7 |
| Mar-23 | 102.5 | 104.4 |
| Apr-23 | 102.5 | 105.3 |
| May-23 | 103.2 | 104.7 |
| Jun-23 | 103.3 | 104.8 |
| Jul-23 | 103.3 | 104.8 |
| Aug-23 | 103.8 | 104.2 |
| Sep-23 | 103.8 | 103.7 |
| Oct-23 | 104.2 | 103.9 |
| Nov-23 | 104.5 | 103.6 |
| Dec-23 | 104.1 | 103.2 |
| Jan-24 | 104.1 | 103.3 |
| Feb-24 | 104.9 | 104.0 |
| Mar-24 | 104.7 | 105.3 |
| Apr-24 | 105.0 | 104.9 |
| May-24 | 105.2 | 104.6 |
| Jun-24 | 105.5 | 104.7 |
| Jul-24 | 105.8 | 105.0 |
| Aug-24 | 106.1 | 105.7 |
| Sep-24 | 106.3 | 105.8 |
| Oct-24 | 106.3 | 105.6 |
| Nov-24 | 106.5 | 106.4 |
| Dec-24 | 106.8 | 106.8 |
| Jan-25 | 107.0 | 106.8 |
| Feb-25 | 106.5 | 106.6 |
| Mar-25 | 106.7 | 106.1 |
| Apr-25 | 107.5 | 106.2 |
| May-25 | 107.4 | 107.9 |
| Jun-25 | 107.3 | 106.6 |
| Jul-25 | 107.6 | 107.1 |
| Aug-25 | 107.5 | 106.6 |
| Sep-25 | 107.5 | 107.2 |
| Oct-25 | 107.8 | 107.5 |
| Nov-25 | 107.5 | 107.4 |
| Dec-25 | 107.9 | 107.8 |
| Jan-26 | 108.2 | 108.4 |
| Feb-26 | 108.3 | 108.2 |
| Mar-26 | 108.5 | 108.6 |
| Apr-26 | 108.2 | 109.6 |
| May-26 | 108.5 | 108.4 |
Index: June 2022 = 100
Source: Labour Force, Australia Tables 001 and 017
Trend employment and hours worked both grew by 0.1 per cent in May.
“Trend employment has grown at a monthly rate of 0.1 per cent since January 2025,” Mr Crick said.
“The underemployment rate fell marginally to 5.8 per cent in May while the underutilisation rate remained at 10.2 per cent.”
The ABS is modernising how it collects data in the Labour Force Survey, continuing to publish quality labour market statistics, while improving the respondent experience.
As outlined in the article How the ABS quality assures Labour Force data during times of change
