In November Australian unemployment dropped to 8.6% as employment grew by over 180,000 to a new record high
In November 2024, Australian ‘real’ unemployment dropped 88,000 to 1,362,000 (down 0.6% to 8.6% of the workforce) with many of these people finding employment. Part-time employment grew significantly in November as we entered the pre-Christmas and Black Friday sales period.
The Australian workforce increased by 95,000 to 15,792,000 in November and overall employment increased by 183,000 to 14,430,000. This meant ‘real’ unemployment was down by 88,000 on October.
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).
- Overall employment increased in November driven by a significant rise in part-time employment:
Australian employment increased 183,000 to 14,430,000. This increase was driven by a rise in part-time employment, up 420,000 to 5,163,000 as the pre-Christmas and Black Friday sales period kicked off, but full-time employment decreased 237,000 to 9,267,000.
- Unemployment decreased in November driven by the increase in part-time employment:
In November 1,362,000 Australians were unemployed (8.6% of the workforce, down 0.6%), a decrease of 88,000 from October. The decrease was driven by the increase in part-time employment which led to fewer people looking for part-time work, down 146,000 to 789,000. However, there was an increase in those looking for full-time work, up 58,000 to 573,000.
- Overall unemployment and under-employment was down slightly by 0.2% to 18.4% in November:
In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.54 million Australians (9.8% of the workforce) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work, up 68,000 from October. In total 2.91 million Australians (18.4% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in November.
- Comparisons with two years ago when COVID-19 restrictions ended show a rapidly increasing workforce is driving employment growth:
The workforce in November was 15,792,000 (up 95,000 from October, and up a large 874,000 from two years ago) – comprised of 14,430,000 employed Australians (up 183,000 from a month ago and up a large 850,000 from two years ago) and 1,362,000 unemployed Australians looking for work (down 88,000 from a month ago, but up 24,000 from two years ago).
ABS Comparison
Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 8.6% is clearly more than double the ABS estimate of 4.1% for October but is approaching the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.3%.
The latest monthly figures from the ABS indicate that the people working fewer hours in October 2024 due to illness, injury or sick leave was 477,500. Significantly, this is over 125,000 higher than the pre-pandemic average of the six years to October 2019 (351,600) – a difference of 125,900.
If this higher than pre-pandemic average of workers (125,900) who are working fewer hours due to illness, injury or sick leave is added to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 1,569,300 we find a total of 1,695,200 people could be considered unemployed or under-employed, equivalent to 11.2% of the workforce.
Roy Morgan Unemployment & Under-employment (2019-2024)
Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says the latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for November shows unemployment dropping to the lowest in five months as employment increased to a record high driven by a surge in part-time employment:
“The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for November show total Australian unemployment or under-employment down slightly to 2,906,000 (18.4% of the workforce, down 0.2%).
“The small decrease was driven by a fall in ‘real unemployment’ which dropped 88,000 to 1,362,000 (8.6% of the workforce, down 0.6%) – the lowest for five months since June 2024. In contrast, under-employment increased by 68,000 to 1,544,000 (9.8% of the workforce, up 0.4%).
“The main driver of the fall in unemployment in November was the increase in part-time employment which increased by 420,000 to above 5.1 million. This drove the number of Australians looking for part-time jobs down significantly, by 146,000 to 789,000.
“Part-time employment also increased significantly a year ago as the Black Friday sales period in November continues to increase in importance every year.
“In contrast, the full-time jobs market moved in the opposite direction. Full-time employment dropped by 237,000 and those looking for full-time jobs increased, up by 58,000. Many of those that were in full-time employment during October likely left the workforce in November.
“Looking longer-term the employment trends since borders re-opened, and pandemic-era restrictions ended in late 2022, has been for rapid population growth powering a sharp rise in the workforce and plenty of new jobs. These latest figures for November show the Australian employment market is providing new jobs, but not at a rate to keep pace with the rapidly growing population.
“Over the last two years since November 2022 the Australian population has increased by over 1.4 million – more people than live in Australia’s fifth largest city of Adelaide. The increase in population is clearly more than double the average population growth across a two-year period over the last 25 years of 578,000.
“Since November 2022 the workforce has increased by over 870,000 and the employment level has increased by 850,000. As you can see, there is a gap there with employment increases not keeping pace with the growing workforce. That gap, of over 20,000, has led to an increase in unemployment since pandemic restrictions were ended in late 2022.
“Looking back over this period, the rapidly inflating Australian population and workforce has led to a persistently high level of labour under-utilisation. Since July 2022 total unemployed and under-employed has been stuck above 2.5 million, and more recently, over the last 18 months since May 2023 total labour under-utilisation has been stuck above 2.7 million and averaged well over 2.9 million since then.
“These figures show that as we close in on another federal election, due by early next year, the Federal Government must make tackling these persistent high levels of unemployment under-employment the number one priority heading into that election.”
This Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly interviews of 918,461 Australians aged 14 and over between December 2008 and November 2024 and includes 5,993 telephone and online interviews in November 2024. *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 |