The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in April, the highest in seven months, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: ‘The number of employed people fell by -19,000 in April, while the number of unemployed people rose by +33,000’. Markets had expected employment to rise by +10,000.
The number of unemployed people looking for full-time work increased by +11,000, and unemployed people looking for part-time work increased by +22,000.
‘Compared to what we usually see in April, more people remained unemployed this month,’ Mr Crick said.
‘Both full-time and part-time employment fell, by -11,000 and -8,000 people respectively.’
A drop in female employment drove the overall fall in employment, with full-time down -19,000 people, and part-time down -13,000 people.
‘This is the first fall in female employment since August 2025,’ Mr Crick said.
Male employment rose by +8,000 people for full-time and +5,000 for part-time.
The underemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 5.8% in April.
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