Australian employment hit a record high above 13.8 million in April as unemployment fell 0.9% to 8.5%
In April unemployment dropped 0.9% points to 8.5%, according to the latest Roy Morgan employment series data – the third straight monthly drop. Unemployment is now at its lowest since September 2022 and was down in April due to the strong employment growth with 241,000 new jobs created.
Unemployment in April dropped 124,000 to 1.29 million Australians (8.5% of the workforce) although under-employment was up 21,000 to 1.34 million (8.9% of the workforce). Overall unemployment and under-employment dropped by 103,000 to 2.63 million (17.4% of the workforce).
- Employment was up in April with full-time employment increasing to another record high:
Australian employment increased by 240,000 to 13,814,000 in April. The increase was driven by an increase in full-time employment, up 68,000 to a new record high of 9,058,000 while part-time employment also increased, up 172,000 to 4,756,000.
- Both full-time and part-time employment increased for the third month in a row in April – the first time this has ever happened in the Roy Morgan employment estimate series.
- Unemployment dropped in April with fewer people looking for full-time and part-time work:
1,286,000 Australians were unemployed (8.5% of the workforce) in April, a decrease of 123,000 from March with fewer people looking for full-time work, down 19,000 to 520,000 and fewer people looking for part-time work, down 105,000 to 766,000.
- The workforce hit a record high in April – up well over 500,000 from a year ago:
The workforce in April was 15,100,000 (up 116,000 from March) – comprised of 13,814,000 employed Australians (up 240,000) and 1,286,000 unemployed Australians looking for work (down 124,000).
In addition to the unemployed, 1.34 million Australians (8.9% of the workforce, up 0.1% points) were under-employed – working part-time but looking for more work, up 21,000 from March.
In total 2.63 million Australians (17.4% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in April, down by 103,000 from March. The combined decrease over the last three months (down 407,000) has now completely reversed the temporary spike higher during December and January when combined unemployment and under-employment increased by 318,000.
Compared to early March 2020, before the nation-wide lockdown, in April 2023 there were more than 450,000 more Australians either unemployed or under-employed (+1.8% points) even though overall employment (13,814,000) is almost 1 million higher than it was pre-COVID-19 (12,872,000).
Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 8.5% is 5% points higher than the ABS estimate of 3.5% for March and is comparable to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 9.7%.
The latest monthly figures from the ABS indicate that the people working fewer hours in March 2023 (495,900) due to illness, injury or sick leave was around 105,000 higher than the pre-pandemic average of the five years to March 2019 (390,940) – a difference of 104,960.
If this higher than pre-pandemic average of workers (104,960) are added to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 1,403,000 we find a total of 1,507,960 people could be considered unemployed or under-employed equivalent to 10.5% of the workforce.
Roy Morgan Unemployment & Under-employment (2019-2023)
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January 2019 – April 2023. Average monthly interviews 5,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.
Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says unemployment was down for a third straight month in April and is now at its lowest for seven months since September 2022 as employment levels continue to increase rapidly – now at a record of over 13.8 million employed Australians:
“The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for April show unemployment down 124,000 to 1,286,000 (8.5%, down 0.9% points). This is the third straight monthly decline and unemployment has dropped by a total of 321,000 (down 2.2% points) since peaking above 1.6 million in January.
“There are a further 1.34 million Australians now under-employed – 8.9% of the workforce. Overall unemployment and under-employment in April is now at 2.63 million (17.4% of the workforce), the lowest it has been since July 2022 after three straight months of declines by a total of 407,000.
“The spike higher in unemployment and under-employment late in 2022 as immigration into Australia began to surge is being worked through in recent months as workers find new jobs and employment levels rapidly increase across the economy.
“In April total jobs hit a record high above 13.8 million driven by a surge in both full-time and part-time employment. Part-time employment increased by over 170,000 in April to almost 4.8 million and full-time employment increased by almost 70,000 to a new record above 9 million for the first time.
“A comparison of the employment market to a year ago as Australia was still battling COVID-19 provides an even starker comparison. Since April 2022 over 660,000 new jobs have been created, a faster rate of growth than either the workforce (+538,000) or even the Australian population (+587,000).
“The growth in jobs has been evenly split with full-time employment increasing by around 350,000 and part-time employment up by around 310,000 compared to April 2022. This rapid increase in employment has come despite the Reserve Bank raising interest rates for a record ten consecutive meetings between May 2022 and March 2023, and now again in May 2023.
“This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers is set to hand down the Albanese Government’s first Federal Budget and is widely expected to deliver an unexpected surplus due to higher-than-expected commodity prices for key exports iron ore, coal and gas.
“Another key factor is the surging employment markets which have increased income tax receipts and reduced welfare payments at the same time. The expected budget surplus allows the Federal Government some room to manoeuvre to increase targeted relief to low-income earners – including job-seekers.
“The expected increase to the Jobseeker payment for unemployed Australians is welcome news for those on the payment even as the ‘LMITO’ (low and middle income-earner tax offset) is being wound back. The LMITO gave those earning less than $126,000 a year a rebate of up to $1,500 on their income tax since being introduced in 2018 by then Treasurer Scott Morrison.
“The balancing act of increasing payments in one area while reducing tax breaks in another is an attempt by the Albanese Government to provide targeted relief without fuelling inflationary pressures. Although inflation appears to have peaked in the closing months of 2022 the RBA is still on the look-out for any signs of further increases as demonstrated by their unexpected increase to interest rates in May.
“The Australian economy is finely balanced at the moment with a surge in employment accompanied by high, but falling, inflation, and interest rates still rising as they work their way through the economy.
“Looking forward Australians will be hoping the Federal Government and the RBA are able to ensure the economy continues to grow despite these pressures and the employment markets continue to show the strength they have shown over the last year with rapidly rising full-time and part-time employment.”
Roy Morgan Unemployed and ‘Under-employed’* Estimates
| Unemployed or
‘Under-employed’* |
Unemployed | Unemployed looking for | ‘Under-employed’* | |||||
| Full-time | Part-time | |||||||
| 2022 | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | % | ‘000 | ‘000 | ‘000 | % |
| Jan-Mar 2022 | 2,380 | 16.4 | 1,187 | 8.2 | 438 | 749 | 1,193 | 8.2 |
| Apr-Jun 2022 | 2,467 | 17.0 | 1,235 | 8.5 | 482 | 753 | 1,232 | 8.5 |
| Jul-Sep 2022 | 2,657 | 17.9 | 1,270 | 8.6 | 540 | 730 | 1,387 | 9.3 |
| Oct-Dec 2022 | 2,792 | 19.4 | 1,361 | 9.2 | 542 | 819 | 1,431 | 9.6 |
| 2023 | ||||||||
| Jan-Mar 2023 | 2,883 | 19.2 | 1,513 | 10.1 | 595 | 918 | 1,371 | 9.1 |
| Months | ||||||||
| March 2022 | 2,356 | 16.2 | 1,133 | 7.8 | 387 | 746 | 1,223 | 8.4 |
| April 2022 | 2,641 | 18.1 | 1,411 | 9.7 | 559 | 852 | 1,230 | 8.4 |
| May 2022 | 2,408 | 16.7 | 1,169 | 8.1 | 477 | 692 | 1,239 | 8.6 |
| June 2022 | 2,351 | 16.3 | 1,125 | 7.8 | 409 | 716 | 1,226 | 8.5 |
| July 2022 | 2,516 | 17.1 | 1,246 | 8.5 | 494 | 752 | 1,270 | 8.6 |
| August 2022 | 2,692 | 18.1 | 1,363 | 9.2 | 592 | 771 | 1,329 | 8.9 |
| September 2022 | 2,764 | 18.6 | 1,202 | 8.1 | 535 | 667 | 1,562 | 10.5 |
| October 2022 | 2,916 | 19.7 | 1,362 | 9.2 | 525 | 837 | 1,554 | 10.5 |
| November 2022 | 2,715 | 18.2 | 1,338 | 9.0 | 506 | 832 | 1,377 | 9.2 |
| December 2022 | 2,745 | 18.4 | 1,384 | 9.3 | 595 | 789 | 1,361 | 9.1 |
| January 2023 | 3,033 | 20.2 | 1,607 | 10.7 | 644 | 963 | 1,426 | 9.5 |
| February 2023 | 2,888 | 19.2 | 1,521 | 10.1 | 602 | 919 | 1,367 | 9.1 |
| March 2023 | 2,729 | 18.2 | 1,410 | 9.4 | 539 | 871 | 1,319 | 8.8 |
| April 2023 | 2,626 | 17.4 | 1,286 | 8.5 | 520 | 766 | 1,340 | 8.9 |
*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 899,850 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 and April 2023 and includes 7,475 telephone and online interviews in April 2023. *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.
For further information:
| Contact | Office | Mobile |
| Gary Morgan: | +61 3 9224 5213 | +61 411 129 094 |
| Michele Levine: | +61 3 9224 5215 | +61 411 129 093 |
Roy Morgan Research cf. ABS Unemployment Estimates
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source October 2006 – April 2023. Average monthly interviews 4,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.
Roy Morgan Research cf. ABS Unemployment Estimates
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January 2000 – April 2023. 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 – April 2023. Average monthly interviews 4,000.
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.
ROY MORGAN MEASURES REAL UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA
NOT THE ‘PERCEPTION’ OF UNEMPLOYMENT – JUNE 8, 2012
The Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate is obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section of people aged 14+. A person is classified as unemployed if they are looking for work, no matter when. The results are not seasonally adjusted and provide an accurate measure of monthly unemployment estimates in Australia.
Households selected for the ABS Survey are interviewed each month for eight months, with one-eighth of the sample being replaced each month. The first interview is conducted face-to-face. Subsequent interviews are then conducted by telephone.
The ABS classifies a person as unemployed if, when surveyed, they have been actively looking for work in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and if they were available for work in the reference week.
The ABS classifies a person as employed if, when surveyed, a person worked for one hour or more during the reference week for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, or even if a person worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are also seasonally adjusted.
For these reasons the Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are different from the Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate. Gary Morgan's concerns regarding the ABS Unemployment estimate is clearly outlined in a 2012 letter to the Australian Financial Review, which was not published.
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
