“The latest Roy Morgan employment estimates for May show total Australian unemployment or under-employment decreasing by 101,000 to 3,151,000 (20.0% of the workforce, down 0.4%). There were decreases in both unemployment, down 65,000 to 1,715,000 (10.9%, down 0.3%) and under-employment, down 36,000 to 1,436,000 (9.1%, down 0.1%).
“However, although this might appear to be a good thing – the decrease was not due to more jobs being created – there were fewer jobs in May than a month earlier.
“Overall employment in May fell by 141,000 to 14,025,000 – the lowest overall employment for over 18 months since November 2023. This was driven by a decline in full-time employment, down 112,000 to 8,982,000, and a drop in part-time employment, down 29,000 to 5,043,000.
“The unusual employment dynamics in May meant that all four of the key employment metrics: full-time employment, part-time employment, unemployment (people looking for work) and under-employment (people working part-time but looking for more work) – all dropped. This was the first time in over three years – since January 2022 – that all four of these indicators fell in the same month.
“Perhaps most concerningly, full-time employment has dropped to under 9 million – its lowest level for nearly two years since September 2023 – after falling in each of the past two months.
“Taken together these indicators show economic weakness with fewer jobs available and a workforce contraction. The level of workforce engagement in May – the % of Australians aged 14+ in the workforce, declined by 1.1% points to 68.3% – its lowest level for three years since June 2022.
“In addition, the share of Australians in employment fell to 60.8% of Australians aged 14+, the lowest share in employment for over four years since March 2021 – during the middle of the pandemic.
“These are not healthy figures indicative of a strong and growing economy. These trends are backed up by the most recent ABS GDP estimates for the March Quarter 2025 which showed quarterly growth of only 0.2% and annual growth of only 1.3% – both figures which indicate a per capita decline when Australia’s growing population is taken into account.
“Fortunately for the Albanese Government, they secured a comfortable re-election victory in early May and now have three years to return the Australian economy to sustainable growth and tackle the enduring problem of high labour under-utilisation.
“Looking back over the three years since the 2022 Federal Election there has been a rapid growth in population (up 1.82 million), workforce (up 1.33 million), and employment (up 781,000). However, there has also been a significant increase in unemployment (up 546,000 since May 2022).
“However, these latest figures show that the re-elected Albanese Government has a significant challenge ahead as it enters its second term developing policies to find employment opportunities for the millions of Australians looking for work (unemployed) or looking for more work (under-employed).”
