The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 3.5 per cent in August 2022, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Lauren Ford, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said: “With employment increasing by 33,000 people and unemployment by 14,000, the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 3.5 per cent in August, returning to the same rate as June.”
The unemployment rate rose to 3.5 per cent for men (up 0.1 percentage points), and remained steady for women at 3.4 per cent in rounded terms.
The participation rate also rose, to 66.6 per cent, consistent with the increase in employment and unemployment. The participation rate is now 0.2 percentage points below the record high in June and 0.7 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.
The participation rate rose for men and women (both up 0.2 percentage points).
Employment and hours worked
Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 33,000 people (0.2 per cent) in August 2022.
With the rise in employment, the employment to population ratio increased 0.1 percentage points to 64.3 per cent.
Seasonally adjusted hours worked rose by 0.8 per cent in August 2022. This fully reversed last month’s drop in hours worked (down 0.8 per cent in July).
“During the pandemic, we have seen changing patterns in employment and hours worked in the months with and after school holidays.
“The August rise in employment and hours occurred after the winter school holidays and flooding events in New South Wales, where we saw more people than usual working fewer hours in July.
“COVID-19 and other illness related worker absences continued to be reflected in hours worked in August.
“The number of people working reduced hours due to being sick remained elevated in August, at around 760,000 people. This is around double the number we typically see at the end of winter,” Ms Ford said.
| Hours (March 2020 Index) | Employed (March 2020 Index) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan-20 | 100.3 | 99.9 |
| Feb-20 | 100.1 | 100.0 |
| Mar-20 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Apr-20 | 89.7 | 95.4 |
| May-20 | 90.9 | 93.3 |
| Jun-20 | 94.3 | 95.1 |
| Jul-20 | 95.3 | 95.9 |
| Aug-20 | 95.5 | 97.1 |
| Sep-20 | 95.5 | 96.8 |
| Oct-20 | 97.8 | 98.1 |
| Nov-20 | 99.1 | 98.8 |
| Dec-20 | 98.9 | 99.0 |
| Jan-21 | 94.3 | 99.2 |
| Feb-21 | 99.8 | 99.8 |
| Mar-21 | 102.2 | 100.4 |
| Apr-21 | 100.8 | 100.1 |
| May-21 | 102.7 | 100.9 |
| Jun-21 | 101.0 | 101.2 |
| Jul-21 | 100.5 | 101.2 |
| Aug-21 | 97.1 | 100.2 |
| Sep-21 | 97.7 | 99.1 |
| Oct-21 | 97.7 | 98.8 |
| Nov-21 | 102.2 | 101.8 |
| Dec-21 | 103.1 | 102.3 |
| Jan-22 | 94.5 | 102.6 |
| Feb-22 | 103.1 | 103.4 |
| Mar-22 | 102.9 | 103.7 |
| Apr-22 | 104.1 | 103.7 |
| May-22 | 105.0 | 104.0 |
| Jun-22 | 104.9 | 104.6 |
| Jul-22 | 104.0 | 104.3 |
| Aug-22 | 104.8 | 104.5 |
Source: Labour Force, Australia Tables 1 and 19
Underemployment and underutilisation
The underemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9 per cent.
The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, remained at 9.4 per cent.
Today’s release includes additional analysis of hours worked and historical charts back to 1966.
