Australian unemployment drops to 8.2% in January as the Omicron variant caused millions of Australians to miss work

The latest Roy Morgan employment series data shows 1.2 million Australians were unemployed in January, down 51,000 on December (8.2% of the workforce), and a further 1.23 million Australians (8.4% of the workforce) were under-employed, down 198,000 (down 1.4% points).

• Workforce dropped by 133,000 in January as Omicron variant kept people out of work:

The workforce in January was 14,580,000 (down 133,000 from December) – comprised of 13,379,000 employed Australians (down 82,000) and 1,201,000 unemployed Australians looking for work (down 51,000). The contractions in those both employed and unemployed in January is no surprise given the millions of Australians forced to isolate during the month due to either being infected with Omicron or being a close contact of a confirmed case.

• Employment in January was just below its record high reached in December:

Australian employment fell by 82,000 to 13,379,000 in January with full-time employment decreasing by 52,000 to 8,765,000, and part-time employment down by 30,000 4,614,000 as the highly contagious Omicron variant played havoc with Australia’s employment markets during the month.

• Unemployment dropped in January to its lowest since before the pandemic began:

1,201,000 Australians were unemployed (8.2% of the workforce), down 51,000 from December with fewer people looking for full-time work (down 93,000 to 464,000) although there was an increase in those looking for part-time work, up 42,000 to 737,000.

Roy Morgan Unemployment & Under-employment (2019-2022)

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January 2019 – January 2022. Average monthly interviews 5,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.

Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 8.2% for January is 4% points higher than the ABS estimate for December 2021 of 4.2%. However, the ABS figure for December counts as employed an additional 38,700 Australians who were working zero hours for ‘economic reasons’ and 46,300 Australians who were working zero hours for ‘other reasons’ – such as being forced out of work by mandatory lockdowns or forced isolation due to catching COVID-19 or being a close contact of a confirmed case.

If these 85,000 non-workers are added back the ABS unemployment estimate for December increases to 659,000 (4.8%). The ABS also claims there are 918,000 Australians (6.6%) under-employed for a total of over 1.5 million unemployed or under-employed (11.4% of the workforce) – an estimate which is still way under the latest Roy Morgan unemployment and under-employment estimate of 18.2%.

• Under-employment dropped in January as millions of Australians were forced to isolate

In addition to those who were unemployed, 1.23 million Australians (8.4% of the workforce) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work, a decrease of 198,000 (down 1.3% points) from December. In total 2.43 million Australians (16.6% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in January, a decrease of 249,000 on December.

Compared to early March 2020, before the nation-wide lockdown, in January 2022 there were over 250,000 more Australians either unemployed or under-employed (+1% point) even though overall employment (13,379,000) is now over 500,000 higher than it was pre-COVID-19 (12,872,000).

Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says the surge in the Omicron strain of COVID-19 in January caused havoc for Australia’s employment markets with millions of Australians forced into isolation during the month:

Roy Morgan Unemployed and ‘Under-employed’* Estimates

*Workforce includes those employed and those looking for work – the unemployed.

This Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly interviews of 808,127 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 and January 2022 and includes 6,057 telephone and online interviews in December 2021. *The ‘under-employed’ are those people who are in part-time work or freelancers who are looking for more work.

Contact Roy Morgan to learn more about Australia’s unemployed and under-employed; who and where they are, and the challenges they face as they search for employment opportunities.

Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to purchase employment profiles, including for Australians who are employed, unemployed, under-employed, employed part-time, employed full-time, retired, studying and many more.

Roy Morgan Research cf. ABS Unemployment Estimates

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source October 2006 – January 2022. Average monthly interviews 4,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January 2000 – January 2022. Average monthly interviews 4,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source April 1995 – December 2021. Average monthly interviews 4,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.

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