Australian employment increased to over 14 million for the first time in November, but still over 3 million unemployed or under-employed
In November 2023 Australian employment hit a record high of over 14 million for the first time with over 9 million now employed full-time and over 5 million employed part-time.
However, despite surging employment – up by 430,000 compared to a year ago – a massive 3.04 million Australians (19.6% of the workforce) were unemployed or under-employed in November.
‘Real’ unemployment was down 0.2% to 9.7% - an estimated 1,505,000 Australians (down 37,000) in November. There were more people looking for full-time jobs (up 20,000 to 626,000) but many fewer people looking for part-time jobs (down 57,000 to 879,000) compared to a month ago. In addition, there were a further 1,532,000 Australians (down 45,000) now under-employed.
The November Roy Morgan Unemployment estimates were 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 ‘real’ unemployment rate is presented as a percentage of the workforce (employed & unemployed).
- Employment increased to a new record high in November with record high part-time employment:
Australian employment increased by 51,000 to a new record high of 14,010,000 in November. The increase was due to a rise in part-time employment, up 52,000 to a new record high of 5,002,000 while full-time employment was virtually unchanged at 9,008,000.
- Unemployment was down in November with significantly fewer people looking for part-time work:
In November 1,505,000 Australians were unemployed (9.7% of the workforce), a decrease of 37,000 from October. There were 879,000 (down 57,000) looking for part-time work but 626,000 (up 20,000) now looking for full-time work.
- The workforce increased by almost 600,000 from a year ago to a record high over 15.5 million people:
The workforce in November was 15,515,000 (up 14,000 from October, and up a massive 597,000 from a year ago) – comprised of 14,010,000 employed Australians (up 51,000 from a month ago) and 1,505,000 unemployed Australians looking for work (down 37,000).
- Overall unemployment and under-employment down 0.5% points in November to 19.6%:
In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.53 million Australians (9.9% of the workforce) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work, down 45,000 from October. In total 3.04 million Australians (19.6% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in November.
Compared to early March 2020, before the nation-wide lockdown, in November 2023 there were almost 900,000 more Australians either unemployed or under-employed (+4% points) even though overall employment (14,010,000) is over 1.1 million higher than it was pre-COVID-19 (12,872,000).
ABS Comparison
Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.7% is more than double the ABS estimate of 3.7% for October but is almost identical with the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.0%.
The latest monthly figures from the ABS indicate that the people working fewer hours in October 2023 due to illness, injury or sick leave was 453,300. This is around 102,000 higher than the pre-pandemic average of the six years to October 2019 (351,750) – a difference of 101,550.
If this higher than pre-pandemic average of workers (101,550) is added to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 1,479,400 we find a total of 1,580,950 people could be considered unemployed or under-employed, equivalent to 10.7% of the workforce.
Roy Morgan Unemployment & Under-employment (2019-2023)
Note: Roy Morgan unemployment estimates are actual data while the ABS estimates are seasonally adjusted.
Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says Australian employment increased to a record high of over 14 million in November and up 430,000 from a year ago, but there are still over 3 million Australians unemployed or under-employed – nearly one-fifth of the workforce:
“The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for November show the Australian workforce and people employed continue to grow strongly. The Australian workforce hit a new record high over 15.5 million, over 14 million Australians were employed for the first time and over 5 million Australians are now in part-time employment – also a new record high.
“There are also over 3 million Australians either unemployed or under-employed for only the fourth time this year. The latest estimates show 1,505,000 Australians were unemployed (9.7% of the workforce) and a further 1,532,000 were under-employed (9.9%) in November.
“As we have stated all year a big reason for these record highs, and continuing high unemployment and under-employment, is the large growth in the size of the Australian population over the last year. The increases are driven by a record high annual population increase of 817,000 since November 2022.
“This level of increase is almost three times larger than the long-term average over the last 25 years during which the Australian population increased on an annual basis by an average of 278,000.
“The rapidly growing population has led to increases in employment metrics across the board. The Australian workforce has increased by almost 600,000 from a year ago to 15,515,000 and overall employment is up 430,000 to 14,010,000. The employed consists of full-time employment at 9,008,000 and part-time employment of 5,002,000.
“Unfortunately, there has also been a significant increase in labour under-utilisation over the last year as the economy has been unable to find new jobs for all those joining the workforce. Unemployment has increased by 167,000 and under-employment increased by 155,000. Overall labour under-utilisation is therefore up by 322,000 from a year ago to 3,037,000 – near post-pandemic highs.
“The high net immigration that is powering this growth in the labour market has kept Australia out of a recession over the last two years with the latest ABS quarterly GDP growth for September 2023 showed the economy growing at only 0.2% for the quarter – less than the rate of population growth.
“However, the swelling workforce is increasingly unable to provide the right type of jobs for all those who need them with over 3 million Australians looking for work or looking for more work. Tackling this continuing high level of unemployment and under-employment must be the number one priority for the Federal Government over the next year.”
This Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly interviews of 944,585 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 and November 2023 and includes 5,970 telephone and online interviews in November 2023. *The ‘under-employed’ are those people who are in part-time work or freelancers who are looking for more work.
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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 |
