Youth unemployment surges

Yesterday’s ABS labour force release for October revealed that Australia’s youth unemployment – i.e. for those aged 15 to 24 years old – surged despite solid growth in jobs.

The headline youth unemployment rate rose 0.9% to 15.6% and remains nearly three times higher than the rest of the labour market (5.4%):

However, youth jobs rose by 43,500 versus a 135,000 increase in jobs across the rest of the labour market, with youth jobs still 108,100 below their March pre-COVID level:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.