Labour Force, Australia

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Headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey

Reference period
December 2024
Released
16/01/2025
  • Next Release 20/02/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, January 2025
  • Next Release 20/03/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, February 2025
  • Next Release 17/04/2025
    Labour Force, Australia, March 2025
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Key statistics

In trend terms, in December 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 4.0%. 
  • participation rate remained at 67.1%.
  • employment increased to 14,573,800. 
  • employment to population ratio remained at 64.4%.
  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.0%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,975 million.

In seasonally adjusted terms, in December 2024:

  • unemployment rate increased to 4.0%.
  • participation rate increased to 67.1%.
  • employment increased to 14,584,400.
  • employment to population ratio increased to 64.5%.
  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.0%.
  • monthly hours worked increased to 1,976 million.
  • full-time employment decreased by 23,700 to 10,037,600 people.
  • part-time employment increased by 80,000 to 4,546,800 people.

Key statistics - Trend

Key statistics - Trend
Nov-24Dec-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,542,80014,573,80031,0000.2%397,3002.8%
Unemployed people608,900604,900-4,000-0.7%31,9005.6%
Unemployment rate4.0%4.0%0.0 ptsna0.1 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.1%6.0%-0.1 ptsna-0.6 ptsna
Participation rate67.1%67.1%0.0 ptsna0.4 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs1,971 million1,975 million4 million0.2%53 million2.7%

Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted

Key statistics - Seasonally adjusted
Nov-24Dec-24Monthly changeMonthly change (%)Yearly changeYearly change (%)
Employed people14,528,10014,584,40056,3000.4%444,4003.1%
Unemployed people593,800604,10010,3001.7%19,5003.3%
Unemployment rate3.9%4.0%0.1 ptsna0.0 ptsna
Underemployment rate6.1%6.0%-0.1 ptsna-0.6 ptsna
Participation rate67.0%67.1%0.2 ptsna0.5 ptsna
Monthly hours worked in all jobs1,966 million1,976 million10 million0.5%61 million3.2%

Estimates of changes throughout this release are calculated using un-rounded level estimates and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded level estimates.

For definitions of labour statistics used in this publication, please refer to Glossary of Labour Force, Australia methodology.

Survey impacts and changes

Unemployment

In trend terms, in December 2024:

  • unemployment rate remained at 4.0%.
  • unemployed people decreased by 4,000 to 604,900. 
  • youth unemployment rate remained at 9.0%.

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 3.442375 to 7.465806.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Employment

In trend terms, in December 2024, employment increased by 31,000 people (0.2%) to 14,573,800 people. 

Employed people

Employed people

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying '000. Data ranges from 11596.830114 to 14584.416387.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Full-time and part-time employment

In trend terms, in December 2024:

  • full-time employment increased by 17,700 to 10,058,500 people, and part-time employment increased by 13,300 to 4,515,300 people.
  • part-time share of employment was 31.0%.

 

Employment-to-population ratio

In trend terms, in December 2024, the employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.4%.

The employment-to-population ratio provides a measure of employment relative to the size of the population.

Employment-to-population ratio

Employment-to-population ratio

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 57.884007 to 64.457763.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Employment-to-population ratio, Seasonally adjusted

Employment-to-population ratio, Seasonally adjusted

Line chart with 3 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 53.256465 to 68.516564.
End of interactive chart.

Hours worked

In trend terms, in December 2024, monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 4.0 million hours (0.2%) to 1,975 million hours.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs

Monthly hours worked in all jobs

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Millions. Data ranges from 1584.57401 to 1976.095002.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs, Seasonally adjusted

Monthly hours worked in all jobs, Seasonally adjusted

Combination chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 2 Y axes displaying % and Millions.
End of interactive chart.

Participation

In trend terms, in December 2024, the participation rate:

  • remained at 67.1%.
  • remained at 71.3% for men and 63.0% for women.

Participation rate

Participation rate

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 62.233773 to 67.127769.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Participation rate, Seasonally adjusted

Participation rate, Seasonally adjusted

Line chart with 3 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 57.242029 to 71.442455.
End of interactive chart.

Underemployment

In trend terms, in December 2024:

  • underemployment rate decreased to 6.0%.
  • underutilisation rate decreased to 10.0%.

Underemployment rate and underutilisation rate

Underemployment rate and underutilisation rate

Line chart with 4 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 5.884752 to 20.269588.
End of interactive chart.

Large month-to-month changes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in multiple trend breaks. The ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates published in spreadsheets in this release for this period. Information on trend breaks can be found in Labour Force, Australia methodology, December 2024.

Underemployment rate, Seasonally adjusted

Underemployment rate, Seasonally adjusted

Line chart with 3 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying %. Data ranges from 4.654232 to 14.880869.
End of interactive chart.

States and Territories

December 2024 - Trend

December 2024 - Trend
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,505,0003,804,2002,991,800952,9001,637,800279,700138,300272,80014,573,800
Employed people - monthly change0.3%0.1%0.3%0.1%0.4%0.1%-0.1%0.1%0.2%
Employment to population ratio63.8%65.1%64.7%60.5%66.6%57.8%68.9%70.0%64.4%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Unemployment rate3.8%4.5%3.9%4.0%3.4%4.1%4.4%3.2%4.0%
Unemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts
Underemployment rate5.9%6.4%6.1%6.9%5.5%7.7%4.0%4.3%6.0%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.2 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts-0.1 pts
Participation rate66.4%68.2%67.3%63.0%69.0%60.3%72.1%72.3%67.1%
Participation rate - monthly change0.1 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts-0.1 pts0.0 pts0.0 pts

December 2024 - Seasonally adjusted

December 2024 - Seasonally adjusted
New South WalesVictoriaQueenslandSouth AustraliaWestern AustraliaTasmaniaNorthern TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
Employed people4,510,7003,799,9003,002,400951,8001,641,800279,400138,900272,00014,584,400
Employed people - monthly change0.5%-0.1%0.5%0.6%0.6%-0.1%0.6%-0.5%0.4%
Employment to population ratio63.9%65.1%64.9%60.4%66.8%57.7%69.2%69.9%64.5%
Employment to population ratio - monthly change0.2 pts-0.2 pts0.2 pts0.3 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts0.4 pts-0.4 pts0.1 pts
Unemployment rate3.8%4.4%3.9%4.2%3.3%4.3%4.2%3.1%4.0%
Unemployment rate - monthly change-0.1 pts0.3 pts0.0 pts0.3 pts0.0 pts0.4 pts0.3 pts0.2 pts0.1 pts
Underemployment rate6.0%6.4%6.1%6.0%5.5%7.7%3.6%4.1%6.0%
Underemployment rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.2 pts-0.1 pts-1.3 pts0.0 pts0.4 pts-0.6 pts-0.7 pts-0.1 pts
Participation rate66.4%68.1%67.5%63.1%69.1%60.3%72.2%72.1%67.1%
Participation rate - monthly change0.1 pts0.0 pts0.2 pts0.4 pts0.3 pts0.1 pts0.6 pts-0.3 pts0.2 pts

Historical charts

Rotation group analysis

Contribution from sample components to estimates

Data downloads

Labour Force Survey results are released in three stages.

  1. Spreadsheets of the headline indicators are published in this release
  2. Additional, more detailed spreadsheets and pivot tables are published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed one week after this first release
  3. Longitudinal labour force microdata are released in the ABS DataLab on a monthly basis, one day after the detailed release (see Microdata: Longitudinal Labour Force, Australia)

See the Survey output section of Labour Force, Australia methodology for more information.

Labour Force status

Data files

The Labour Account is the best source of quarterly data for the market and non-market sectors. For information, see Industry employment guide.

The ABS is currently reviewing the usefulness of the market and non-market sector data in Table 21 of the headline Labour Force release.

Hours worked

Data files

Underemployment and underutilisation

Data files

Flows into and out of employment

GM1 - Labour force status and Gross changes (flows) by Age, Sex, State and Territory, January 2006 to December 2024

GM1 - Labour force status and Gross changes (flows) by Age, Sex, State and Territory, Historical (from February 1991)

All time series spreadsheets

All time series spreadsheets

Data Explorer datasets

Caution: Data in the Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the time period when using Data Explorer.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Labour Force status by Sex, State and Territory - Number of people employed, unemployed and not in the labour force, monthly, February 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force monthly hours worked by Sex, State and Territory - Monthly hours worked by employed people, monthly, July 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force status by Age Groups - Number of people employed, unemployed and not in the labour force, monthly, February 1978 and onwards.

Labour Force Educational Attendance - Educational attendance (Full Time) for 15-24 year olds by State, Territory and Sex, monthly, April 1986 and onwards.

Article archive

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6202.0.