Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Oct-26

In September 2026, Australian ‘real unemployment’ fell 1.1% to 10.6% (down 181,000 to 1,667,000); this is the lowest since April. In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.37 million Australians (8.8% of the workforce, down 0.3%) were under-employed, down 71,000. In total, 3.04 million Australians (19.4% of the workforce, down 1.4%) were either unemployed or under-employed in September. Meanwhile, overall employment increased by 49,000 to 14,005,000 in September; the increase was driven by a rise in part-time employment (up 102,000 to 5,046,000, and equivalent to 36% of employed Australians). In contrast, full-time employment was down 53,000 to 8,959,000 (equivalent to 64% of employed Australians). Roy Morgan estimates the overall workforce size (which adds together the employed and unemployed) at 15,672,000 in September, down 132,000 on a month ago, and representing 66.6% (down 0.7%) of Australians aged 14+. The September Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section of people aged 14+.

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