The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5 per cent in September, up from a revised 4.3 per cent in August, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Sean Crick, ABS head of labour statistics, said: ‘This is the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate recorded since November 2021.

‘There were 34,000 more unemployed people in September. The number of employed people also grew, up 15,000 in the same period.

‘As a result of these increases, the participation rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 67.0 per cent, although this is below the record high of 67.2 per cent we saw at the beginning of the year,’ Mr Crick said.

The employment-to-population ratio remained steady at 64.0 per cent.

A rise in both males and females seeking work contributed to the rise in the number of unemployed people in September. The number of unemployed males rose by 24,000 to 370,000, while the number of unemployed females rose by 10,000 to 314,000.

Full-time employment rose by 9,000, which was a result of full-time employed males increasing by 23,000 and full-time employed females decreasing by 15,000.

Part-time employment rose by 6,000. This was driven by more females employed part-time, up 19,000, while males employed part-time fell 13,000.

Hours worked rose by 0.5 per cent in September, higher than the 0.1 per cent rise in employment.

Underemployment and underutilisation

The underemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 5.9 per cent in September. This is 0.3 percentage points lower than September 2024, and 2.8 percentage points lower than March 2020.

The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, rose by 0.4 percentage points to 10.4 per cent. This is 0.1 percentage points higher than September 2024, and 3.5 percentage points lower than March 2020.

Underlying trend data

Trend employment grew by around 20,000 people, or 0.1 per cent in September. This is a rise of 1.5 per cent over the last 12 months.

Monthly hours worked rose by 0.1 per cent, reflecting similar monthly growth in people employed. The annual growth rate of hours worked and people employed were both 1.5 per cent.

‘The trend unemployment rate remained at 4.3 per cent in September,’ Mr Crick said.

‘In trend terms, participation rate remained at 66.9 per cent in September, while the employment-to-population ratio stayed at 64.0 per cent.'

The underemployment rate was steady at 5.9 per cent, and the underutilisation rate remained at 10.2 per cent.

More information, including regional labour market data, will be available in the upcoming September 2025 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, on Thursday 23 October 2025.

The ABS would like to thank Australians for their continued support in responding to our surveys.