Record participation rate in July, as unemployment rate rises to 4.2%

Media Release

Released

15/08/2024

Source

Labour Force, Australia, July 2024

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 per cent in July, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Kate Lamb, ABS head of labour statistics said: “The unemployment rate rose to 4.2 per cent in July, with the number of unemployed growing by 24,000 people and employed by around 58,000. This combined increase lifted the participation rate to a record high of 67.1 per cent.

“The employment-to-population ratio rose by 0.1 percentage point to 64.3 per cent, indicating employment growth was faster than population growth, and was just below the historical high of 64.4 per cent in November 2023.

“Although the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point in each of the past two months, the record high participation rate and near record high employment-to-population ratio shows that there continues to be a high number of people in jobs, and looking for and finding jobs.

“While unemployment increased to 637,000 people in July, the highest it has been since November 2021, it remains around 70,000 people below its pre-pandemic level.

“The unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent was also the highest since November 2021, but was 1.0 percentage point lower than March 2020,” Ms Lamb said.

Hours worked and underemployment

Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked rose by 0.4 per cent, in line with the 0.4 per cent increase in employment.

Seasonally adjusted employment and hours worked, indexed to March 2020
	Employed (March 2020 Index)	Hours (March 2020 Index)
Mar-20	100	100
Apr-20	95.5	89.9
May-20	93.2	90.6
Jun-20	95	94.2
Jul-20	96	95.3
Aug-20	97.1	95.6
Sep-20	96.8	95.6
Oct-20	97.9	96.9
Nov-20	98.6	98.9
Dec-20	99	99.2
Jan-21	99.3	95.3
Feb-21	99.7	99.7
Mar-21	100.2	102
Apr-21	100.2	100.5
May-21	100.8	102.2
Jun-21	101	100.7
Jul-21	101.1	100.6
Aug-21	100.1	96.6
Sep-21	99.2	97.8
Oct-21	98.8	97.9
Nov-21	101.7	101.8
Dec-21	102.3	103.5
Jan-22	102.8	96
Feb-22	103.4	103.2
Mar-22	103.6	102.8
Apr-22	104	103.4
May-22	104.3	104.8
Jun-22	105	105.1
Jul-22	105	104.9
Aug-22	105.6	106.1
Sep-22	105.7	106.3
Oct-22	106	107.9
Nov-22	106.6	108
Dec-22	106.5	107.9
Jan-23	106.7	106
Feb-23	107.1	109.2
Mar-23	107.8	109.6
Apr-23	107.7	112.1
May-23	108.3	110
Jun-23	108.5	110.2
Jul-23	108.4	110.3
Aug-23	108.9	109.6
Sep-23	109	109.2
Oct-23	109.5	109.2
Nov-23	109.9	109.2
Dec-23	109.5	108.7
Jan-24	109.6	106.5
Feb-24	110.5	109.8
Mar-24	110.5	111
Apr-24	110.8	110.9
May-24	111.1	110.5
Jun-24	111.5	110.8
Jul-24	111.9	111.2

Seasonally adjusted employment and hours worked, indexed to March 2020

["","Employed","Hours"]

[["Mar-20","Apr-20","May-20","Jun-20","Jul-20","Aug-20","Sep-20","Oct-20","Nov-20","Dec-20","Jan-21","Feb-21","Mar-21","Apr-21","May-21","Jun-21","Jul-21","Aug-21","Sep-21","Oct-21","Nov-21","Dec-21","Jan-22","Feb-22","Mar-22","Apr-22","May-22","Jun-22","Jul-22","Aug-22","Sep-22","Oct-22","Nov-22","Dec-22","Jan-23","Feb-23","Mar-23","Apr-23","May-23","Jun-23","Jul-23","Aug-23","Sep-23","Oct-23","Nov-23","Dec-23","Jan-24","Feb-24","Mar-24","Apr-24","May-24","Jun-24","Jul-24"],[[100],[95.5],[93.200000000000003],[95],[96],[97.099999999999994],[96.799999999999997],[97.900000000000006],[98.599999999999994],[99],[99.299999999999997],[99.700000000000003],[100.2],[100.2],[100.8],[101],[101.09999999999999],[100.09999999999999],[99.200000000000003],[98.799999999999997],[101.7],[102.3],[102.8],[103.40000000000001],[103.59999999999999],[104],[104.3],[105],[105],[105.59999999999999],[105.7],[106],[106.59999999999999],[106.5],[106.7],[107.09999999999999],[107.8],[107.7],[108.3],[108.5],[108.40000000000001],[108.90000000000001],[109],[109.5],[109.90000000000001],[109.5],[109.59999999999999],[110.5],[110.5],[110.8],[111.09999999999999],[111.5],[111.90000000000001]],[[100],[89.900000000000006],[90.599999999999994],[94.200000000000003],[95.299999999999997],[95.599999999999994],[95.599999999999994],[96.900000000000006],[98.900000000000006],[99.200000000000003],[95.299999999999997],[99.700000000000003],[102],[100.5],[102.2],[100.7],[100.59999999999999],[96.599999999999994],[97.799999999999997],[97.900000000000006],[101.8],[103.5],[96],[103.2],[102.8],[103.40000000000001],[104.8],[105.09999999999999],[104.90000000000001],[106.09999999999999],[106.3],[107.90000000000001],[108],[107.90000000000001],[106],[109.2],[109.59999999999999],[112.09999999999999],[110],[110.2],[110.3],[109.59999999999999],[109.2],[109.2],[109.2],[108.7],[106.5],[109.8],[111],[110.90000000000001],[110.5],[110.8],[111.2]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Index","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"(March 2020 Index)","table_units":"(March 2020 Index)","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Tables 1 and 19

“In July, the proportion of employed people who worked reduced hours due to illness was 4.2 per cent, similar to what we saw in May and June. This continues to remain higher than the 5-year pre-pandemic July average of 3.6 per cent,” Ms Lamb said.

“However, we also continue to see this balanced by slightly lower than usual reporting of some other reasons that people work less hours than usual, such as people taking annual leave.”

The growth in hours worked contributed to a 0.1 percentage point fall in the underemployment rate, down to 6.3 per cent in July. This was 0.1 percentage point lower than July last year, and 2.4 percentage points lower than March 2020.

The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, rose slightly to 10.6 per cent. This was 0.3 percentage point higher than July 2023 and 3.4 percentage point lower than March 2020.

Underlying trend data

The trend unemployment rate rose less than 0.1 percentage point to 4.2 per cent in July.

In trend terms, employment grew by 48,000 people (0.3 per cent), which was faster than the 20-year pre-pandemic average (0.2 per cent).

Hours worked grew 0.2 per cent between June and July, slightly slower than the increase in employment.

Trend employment and hours worked, indexed to July 2022
	Employed (July 2022 Index)	Hours (July 2022 Index)
Jul-22	100	100
Aug-22	100.3	100.6
Sep-22	100.5	101.3
Oct-22	100.7	101.9
Nov-22	100.9	102.4
Dec-22	101.2	102.9
Jan-23	101.5	103.3
Feb-23	101.8	103.7
Mar-23	102.1	104.1
Apr-23	102.4	104.4
May-23	102.7	104.5
Jun-23	103	104.5
Jul-23	103.2	104.4
Aug-23	103.4	104.2
Sep-23	103.6	103.9
Oct-23	103.8	103.6
Nov-23	104	103.6
Dec-23	104.2	103.7
Jan-24	104.4	103.9
Feb-24	104.6	104.3
Mar-24	104.9	104.6
Apr-24	105.2	104.9
May-24	105.5	105.2
Jun-24	105.9	105.4
Jul-24	106.2	105.6

Trend employment and hours worked, indexed to July 2022

["","Employed","Hours"]

[["Jul-22","Aug-22","Sep-22","Oct-22","Nov-22","Dec-22","Jan-23","Feb-23","Mar-23","Apr-23","May-23","Jun-23","Jul-23","Aug-23","Sep-23","Oct-23","Nov-23","Dec-23","Jan-24","Feb-24","Mar-24","Apr-24","May-24","Jun-24","Jul-24"],[[100],[100.3],[100.5],[100.7],[100.90000000000001],[101.2],[101.5],[101.8],[102.09999999999999],[102.40000000000001],[102.7],[103],[103.2],[103.40000000000001],[103.59999999999999],[103.8],[104],[104.2],[104.40000000000001],[104.59999999999999],[104.90000000000001],[105.2],[105.5],[105.90000000000001],[106.2]],[[100],[100.59999999999999],[101.3],[101.90000000000001],[102.40000000000001],[102.90000000000001],[103.3],[103.7],[104.09999999999999],[104.40000000000001],[104.5],[104.5],[104.40000000000001],[104.2],[103.90000000000001],[103.59999999999999],[103.59999999999999],[103.7],[103.90000000000001],[104.3],[104.59999999999999],[104.90000000000001],[105.2],[105.40000000000001],[105.59999999999999]]]

[]

[{"axis_id":"0","tick_interval":"","axis_min":"","axis_max":"","axis_title":"","precision":-1,"axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Index","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"(July 2022 Index)","table_units":"(July 2022 Index)","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Source: Labour Force, Australia, Tables 1 and 19

“Monthly growth in employment has remained at 0.3 per cent since March 2024, and is above the 20-year pre-pandemic average of 0.2 per cent,” Ms Lamb said.

The employment-to-population ratio rose 0.1 percentage point to a record high of 64.3 per cent, with employment increasing slightly faster than population growth, and was 2.1 percentage points higher than March 2020.

The participation rate rose 0.1 percentage point to a historical high of 67.1 per cent and was 1.5 percentage points higher than in March 2020.

The underemployment rate remained at 6.4 per cent and the underutilisation rate fell by less than 0.1 percentage point to 10.5 per cent.

"The employment and participation measures remain historically high while unemployment and underemployment measures remain historically low, compared with what we saw before the pandemic. This suggests the labour market remains quite tight,” Ms Lamb said.

More information will be available in the upcoming July 2024 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, on Thursday 22 August 2024, including modelled regional labour market data.

The ABS would like to thank Australians for their continued support in responding to our surveys.

Media notes

The July survey reference period is from 30 June 2024 to 13 July 2024.
The August survey reference period is from 4 August 2024 to 17 August 2024.
Access official, high-resolution images of ABS media spokespeople from our image library.
When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team on 1300 175 070 or media@abs.gov.au (monitored 8:30am-5pm Canberra time, Monday-Friday).
Watch our data crash course, designed especially for journalists to learn how to find, download and interpret our data.
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications on their release.

APA

Citation

Record participation rate in July, as unemployment rate rises to 4.2%

APA

Citation

Hours worked and underemployment

Underlying trend data

Media notes

Provide feedback