Unemployment rate lifts again

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Labour Force from the ABS just now:

Key statistics

Seasonally adjusted estimates for September 2020:

  • Unemployment rate increased to 6.9%.
  • Participation rate decreased to 64.8%.
  • Employment decreased to 12,571,900.
  • Employment to population ratio decreased to 60.3%.
  • Underemployment rate increased to 11.4%.
  • Monthly hours worked increased by 9 million hours.
Aug-20 Sep-20 Monthly change Monthly change (%) Yearly change Yearly change (%)
Seasonally adjusted
Employed people 12,601,500 12,571,900 -29,500 -0.2% -358,400 -2.8%
Unemployed people 926,200 937,400 11,300 1.2% 228,100 32.2%
Unemployment rate 6.8% 6.9% 0.1 pts na 1.7 pts na
Underemployment rate 11.3% 11.4% 0.1 pts na 3.0 pts na
Participation rate 64.9% 64.8% -0.1 pts na -1.3 pts na
Monthly hours worked in all jobs 1,680 million 1,688 million 9 million 0.5% -89 million -5.0%

Estimates of changes throughout this release are calculated using un-rounded level estimates and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded level estimates.

Roughly in line with expectations. Much more to come.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.