Australia's unemployment rate was 4.6% in August 2026, seasonally adjusted, up 0.2 percentage points from July, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Labour Force release of 24 September 2026. There were 722,900 unemployed people, and SEEK reports applications per job ad at peak levels. The ABS publishes the September figures on 15 October 2026.
What is the current unemployment rate in Australia?
These are the ABS headline figures for August 2026, seasonally adjusted:
| Measure | July 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Unemployed people | 694,700 | 722,900 |
| Employed people | 14,797,100 | 14,836,600 |
| Participation rate | 66.9% | 67.1% |
| Underemployment rate | 6.3% | 6.2% |
| Employment to population ratio | 63.9% | 63.9% |
The ABS works out changes from unrounded figures, which is why 4.5% to 4.6% is reported as a rise of 0.2 points. Flat White's 29 September 2026 edition put the August rate at 4.65%, the highest since 2021.
In trend terms, which the ABS recommends as the best measure of the underlying labour market, unemployment was also 4.6%. The youth unemployment rate rose 0.4 points to 10.8%. Unemployment was 4.8% for men and 4.4% for women.
How does the ABS measure unemployment?
The figures come from the monthly Labour Force Survey. The August survey asked about the two weeks from 2 to 15 August 2026 and was collected between 9 and 29 August.
- Employed: people aged 15 and over who worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in the reference week.
- Unemployed: people aged 15 and over who were not employed in the reference week, had actively looked for work in the four weeks up to the end of that week and were available to work. People waiting to start a new job within four weeks also count.
- Participation rate: the labour force, meaning everyone employed or unemployed, as a share of the civilian population aged 15 and over.
- Underemployed: employed people who want, and are available for, more hours than they have.
The one hour rule means someone with a single short shift in the reference week counts as employed.
Why did full-time jobs fall while employment grew?
Employment rose by 39,500 people in August. Part-time work accounted for all of it. Full-time employment fell by 6,300 to 10,193,900 people and part-time employment rose by 45,800 to 4,642,600.
More people were also looking for work. The participation rate rose 0.2 points to 67.1%, and the number of unemployed people rose by 28,200. Morgan Stanley Research, in a note carried in Flat White's edition, said the rise in unemployment was largely participation driven and took the rate above the Reserve Bank's August forecast profile. The edition put that down to the cost of living pushing people back into work.
How competitive is the job market for applicants?
SEEK's Employment Report for August 2026 shows ads and applicants both rising:
- Job ads rose 0.5% from July, the first rise since June 2025. They were still 4.5% lower than a year earlier.
- Applications per job ad rose 0.4% in the month and were 1.7% higher than a year earlier, at peak levels. SEEK records applications with a one-month lag, so these figures describe July.
- Western Australia was the only state with more job ads than a year earlier, up 1.8%.
- Engineering (up 14.3% on a year earlier), Mining, Resources and Energy (11.6%) and Construction (10.7%) led annual growth.
- Accounting (down 1.5%) and Education and Training (down 1.0%) were among the largest industries to fall in the month.
SEEK's chief economist, Dr Blair Chapman, said applications per ad "rose again month-on-month to peak levels, highlighting the continued fierce level of competition for the jobs on offer."
The Flat White edition drew out what that means for pay. An employer with a longer line of applicants does not need to fight as hard to fill a role, which makes a quick pay rise from switching jobs harder to get.
Which jobs is AI changing?
SEEK tracks AI in job ads. In August 2026, ads mentioning AI-related skills were 66.2% higher than a year earlier, and AI skills appeared in 2.3% of all job ads (3.0% in New South Wales). Ads asking for agentic AI skills rose 185.3%.
Ad volumes fell for roles at every level of exposure to automation. Roles with high automation scores fell 12.3% on a year earlier. Roles with low scores, such as bakers, travel attendants and florists, where the work is manual or technical and not easy to automate today, fell 1.8%.
What does this mean for graduates and career changers?
Youth unemployment at 10.8% and applications per ad at a peak both make the entry level more competitive. For students, an internship is one of the ways into a graduate role. Our guide to what an internship is and how to get one covers paid and unpaid internships, when applications open and how to apply.
If you are weighing a move into a new field, Is it too late to change careers at 30, 40 or 50? covers how pay grows with experience, which industries pay more and how to work out what a change would cost you.
From Flat White: 10 things nobody tells you about your pay
Sources
Every page below was read on 8 October 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, August 2026, released 24 September 2026 (the headline table, trend figures, youth, men and women, full-time and part-time, survey dates, next release 15 October 2026)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia methodology, August 2026 (glossary: employed, unemployed, participation rate, underemployed)
- SEEK, SEEK Employment Report, August 2026 (job ads, applications per ad, states, industries, AI skills, automation scores, Dr Blair Chapman's words)
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