Unemployment rate holds at 4.4%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has held firm at 4.4 per cent in June, while there has been a notable uptick in the number of new jobs.

Newly-released data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that seasonally-adjusted unemployment remains at 4.4 per cent, while there was a 76,000 person rise in employment, driven by a 47,000 person rise in part-time employment, according to the ABS head of labour statistics, Sean Crick.

“Part of the growth in employment this month came from those who were waiting to start a job in May. This represents a stronger June movement than has been observed in recent years,” he said.

“We also continued to see higher numbers of people remaining employed this June, following elevated levels in the recent few months.”

“The number of unemployed rose by 13,000 people in June, which combined with the growth in employment, led to the participation rate rising by 0.3 percentage points to 67.0 per cent in June,” Crick noted.

The data follows the unemployment rate falling to 4.4 per cent last month, which one economist said at the time would strengthen the case for further monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank, thus reducing the likelihood of an increase to interest rates at the RBA’s next board meeting, in August.

Elsewhere, the underemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.5 per cent in June, and people aged 55-64 years old had the largest annual growth in the participation rate, up 0.8 percentage points to 70.6 per cent, Crick said.

Moreover, the number of part-time hours worked grew 1.2 per cent this month, he said, “with full-time hours worked remaining flat”.

“Annually, employment rose 1.7 per cent from June 2025, and hours worked grew 1.8 per cent.”

Finally, trend employment grew by 0.2 per cent, while hours worked remained flat in June.

Both the trend underemployment and underutilisation rates, the ABS noted in a statement, increased 0.1 percentage points, to 6.3 per cent and 10.7 per cent respectively.

As previously reported by HR Leader, recent research has found that half of young Australians are prioritising financial stability over personal passion, a shift that career experts warn could lead to long-term burnout and career misalignment. The federal government is also taking notice of broader workplace trends, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent speech at the University of Sydney unveiling the national AI framework and official Office of AI underpinning the ambition to “create a new generation of good, secure jobs”.

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Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Momentum Media’s professional services suite, encompassing Lawyers Weekly, HR Leader, Accountants Daily, and Accounting Times. He has worked as a journalist and podcast host at Momentum Media since February 2018. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.