Unemployment rate holds steady at 4.1%

Data released today (19 June) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that the unemployment rate has remained between 3.9 per cent and 4.1 per cent for the past 18 months.

New data released by the ABS revealed that the adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.1 per cent in May. After seeing an employment surge of 89,000 workers in the previous month of April, May saw a 28,000 increase in employment – despite a 2,000 drop.

“Despite employment falling by 2,000 people this month, it’s up 2.3 percent compared to May 2024, which is stronger than the pre-pandemic, 10-year average annual growth of 1.7 per cent,” said Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics.

“This fall in employment, combined with a drop in unemployment of 3,000 people, meant that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1 per cent for May.”

According to the data, the employment-to-population ratio fell 0.1 percentage points to 64.2 per cent, and the participation rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 67 per cent.

“Despite the slight fall in the employment-to-population ratio this month, the female employment-to-population ratio rose 0.1 percentage points to a record high of 60.9 per cent,” said Crick.

The 4.1 per cent figure marks the 18th month in a row that the unemployment rate has been confined within a narrow range of 3.9 and 4.1 per cent.

Other findings discovered that monthly hours worked rose by 0.1 per cent, which, according to the ABS, has consistently been smaller than monthly employment growth since the beginning of the year.

“In trend terms, the employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.3 per cent in May, while the participation rate stayed at 67.0 per cent. Both measures have remained the same since the start of 2025,” said Crick.

Speaking previously on the unemployment rate, Treasurer Jim Chalmers noted that despite the economy still being under pressure, growth is occurring in various segments to combat the cost of living.

“Under Labor, real wages are up, inflation is down, unemployment is low, incomes are growing, and we’ve had two interest rate cuts in three months,” Chalmers said.

“We know people are still under pressure, and that’s why this decision and our ongoing cost-of-living relief are so important.

“Boosting wages, cutting taxes for every taxpayer and creating more jobs are central parts of our efforts to help Australians with the cost of living.”