Australian employment increases to a new record high of over 14.3 million; driving a drop in unemployment to 8.7% in May
In May 2024, Australian ‘real’ unemployment dropped 170,000 to 1,365,000 (down 1% to 8.7% of the workforce) as overall employment increased to a new record high above 14.3 million.
In addition to the decrease in unemployment, there was also a welcome decrease in under-employment, down 256,000 to 1,338,000. These combined decreases mean 2.7 million Australians (17.2% of the workforce, up 1%) were unemployed or under-employed in May – the lowest level of total labour under-utilisation for over a year since April 2022 (2.63 million).
The May 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 reaches new all-time record high at over 14.3 million in May: Australian employment increased by 78,000 to a new record high of 14,310,000 in May. An increase in full-time employment drove the increase, up 112,000 to a new record high of 9,441,000 while part-time employment was down 34,000 to 4,869,000.
- Unemployment decreased in May with 170,000 fewer Australians looking for work: In May 1,365,000 Australians were unemployed (8.7% of the workforce, down 1%), a decrease of 170,000 from April driven by fewer people looking for both full-time and part-time work. There were 600,000 (down 69,000) looking for full-time work and 765,000 (down 101,000) looking for part-time work.
- Overall unemployment and under-employment dropped by 2.6% to 17.2% in May: In addition to the unemployed, a further 1.34 million Australians (8.5% of the workforce) were under-employed, i.e. working part-time but looking for more work, down 256,000 from April. In total 2.7 million Australians (17.2% of the workforce) were either unemployed or under-employed in May.
- Comparisons with a year ago show rapidly increasing workforce driving employment growth: The workforce in May was 15,675,000 (down 92,000 from April, but up a massive 710,000 from a year ago) – comprised of a record high 14,310,000 employed Australians (up 78,000 from a month ago, and up a massive 603,000 from a year ago) and 1,365,000 unemployed Australians looking for work (down 170,000 from a month ago, but up 107,000 from a year ago).
Although unemployment and under-employment remain high at 2.7 million – this the lowest combined figure for over a year since April 2023 (2,626,000, 17.4% of the workforce). This is also the lowest rate of combined unemployment and under-employment since July 2022 (17.1%, 2,516,000).
ABS Comparison
Roy Morgan’s unemployment figure of 9.7% is more than double the ABS estimate of 4.1% for April but is approaching the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 10.7%.
The latest monthly figures from the ABS indicate that the people working fewer hours in April 2024 due to illness, injury or sick leave was 463,500. This is around 122,000 higher than the pre-pandemic average of the five years to April 2019 (341,100) – a difference of 122,400.
If this higher than pre-pandemic average of workers (122,400) is added to the combined ABS unemployment and under-employment figure of 1,595,300 we find a total of 1,717,700 people could be considered unemployed or under-employed, equivalent to 11.5% of the workforce.
Roy Morgan Unemployment & Under-employment (2019-2024)
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source January 2019 – May 2024. 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 the latest Roy Morgan employment estimates bring welcome news with a record high number of jobs driving total Australian unemployment or under-employment to its lowest level in over two years at 17.2% of the workforce:
“The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for May show total Australian unemployment or under-employment plunging 426,000 to 2,703,000 (17.2% of the workforce, down 2.6%). ’Real’ unemployment dropped 170,000 to 1,365,000 (8.7% of the workforce, down 1%) and under-employment was down 256,000 to 1,338,000 (8.5%, down 1.6%).
“This is the first time this year that both unemployment and under-employment have decreased in the same month with the two usually moving in opposite directions. The decrease means the overall rate of labour under-utilisation (17.2%) is now at its lowest for nearly two years since July 2022 (17.1%, 2.52 million) as Australia emerged from the pandemic but before population growth accelerated.
“The labour force has experienced rapid change over the last year with a large increase in population (+739,000) – a rate almost three times higher than the average annual population growth over the last 25 years of 289,000. This population increase has been the driver of a growing workforce, up by 710,000 to a near-record high of nearly 15.7 million in May 2024.
“In turn, the increasing workforce has led to a large rise in employment, up 603,000 to a new record high of over 14.3 million, and an increase in unemployment, up 107,000 to 1,365,000. There is good news as well with under-employment down 127,000 to 1,338,000 compared to a year ago. This means overall unemployment and under-employment is down 20,000 compared to a year ago.
“The figures show that although new jobs are being created, the growth in employment is making only a marginal difference to the overall level of labour under-utilisation in Australia. A look at the different States shows that employment growth was strongest in NSW and Queensland in May.
“One factor that appears to be driving some of the employment growth we are witnessing are the pressures brought on by cost-of-living concerns and high levels of mortgage stress – Mortgage stress increased to 30.8% of mortgage holders in April.
“As finances are squeezed and households need to supplement existing sources of income to keep making essential payments – including for mortgages and also payments for electricity, gas and other daily essentials – more people are being drawn into the workforce to stave off financial trouble.
“The continuing level of high unemployment and under-employment (2.7 million, over 1-in-6 Australians in the workforce) shows the labour market is struggling to provide jobs for all those joining the workforce. Tackling the persistent high level of unemployment and under-employment must be the number one priority for the Federal Government which is due to face an election during the next year.”
This Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly interviews of 980,613 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 and May 2024 and includes 5,987 telephone and online interviews in May 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 |
