In the August labour-force data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on September 24, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.6% from 4.5% in July. Employment increased by 39,500 to 14,836,600, and the number of unemployed people rose by 28,200 to 722,900. The participation rate edged up from 66.9% to 67.1%, while the underemployment rate fell from 6.3% to 6.2%.

Total hours worked increased 0.7% for the month to 2,009 million. The ABS cautioned that supplementary survey effects in August may also have captured some seasonality and recommended the trend series as the best guide to underlying labour-market behaviour; the trend unemployment rate was also 4.6%. Monthly survey estimates can be affected by sampling uncertainty and methodological changes. The rates follow labour-force survey definitions and do not mean that the entire working-age population is unemployed.