Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 4.4% in June, matching both market expectations and the May reading. The number of unemployed rose by 12,700 to 686,800, up from 674,100 in May. Within this, the number of people looking for full-time work increased by 13,300 to 457,300, while those seeking part-time work edged down by 600 to 229,500.
Total employment jumped by 76,300 to a record 14.82 million, far exceeding forecasts for a 15,000 gain and following an upwardly revised increase of 43,900 jobs in May. Full-time employment rose by 29,300 to 10.17 million, and part-time employment expanded by 47,100 to 4.65 million.
The participation rate climbed to 67.0%, above both May’s result and market expectations of 66.7%, and reached its highest level since July 2025. The underemployment rate inched up to 6.5% from 6.3%. Meanwhile, total monthly hours worked across all jobs increased by 5 million to 2,014 million.