Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 16-Sep-26

In August 2026, Australian ‘real unemployment’ rose by 15,000 to 1,848,000 (11.7% of the workforce, up 0.1%), and under-employment increased by 50,000 to 1,445,000 (up 0.3% to 9.1%). In total, 3.29 million Australians (20.8% of the workforce, up 0.4%) were either unemployed or under-employed in August. Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at 15,804,000 in August, down 9,000 on a month ago, and representing 67.3% (down 0.1%) of Australians aged 14+. Overall employment was down 24,000 to 13,956,000 in August. The decrease was driven by a fall in full-time employment (down 81,000 to 9,012,000), and equivalent to 64.6% of employed Australians. In contrast, part-time employment was up 57,000 to 4,944,000 (equivalent to 35.4% of employed Australians). The August Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section of people aged 14+.

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