Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 18-Jun-25

In May 2025, Australian ‘real’ unemployment fell by 65,000 to 1,715,000 (down 0.3%, to 10.9% of the workforce). However, the fall in unemployment was not because people looking for work found jobs, but because they gave up and left the workforce. In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.44 million Australians (9.1% of the workforce) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work (down 36,000 from April). In total, 3.15 million Australians (20.0% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in May. Meanwhile, Roy Morgan estimates that the overall workforce size (which adds together both the employed and unemployed) was just over 15.7 million in May, down 206,000 on a month ago and representing 68.3% of Australians aged 14+. This is the smallest estimated workforce so far this year, and the largest monthly workforce contraction since October 2021. Roy Morgan also estimates that just over 14 million people (14,025,000) were employed in May; this is down 141,000 from a month ago, and the lowest level of employment since November 2023.

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