With federal election approaching, government should tackle 'persistent high levels' of unemployment, under-employment, says expert
Australia's "real" unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% in November 2024, according to the latest data from Roy Morgan, thanks to the increase of part-time employment ahead of the holiday season.
The data marks a decrease of 0.6% from the previous month, with 88,000 fewer people unemployed. The decline in unemployment came as employment grew by 183,000, pushing the number of employed Australians to a record high of 14.43 million.
The November 2024 estimates were based on a survey conducted by Roy Morgan, which tracks individuals aged 14 and older across Australia.
The figures show that 1.36 million Australians were unemployed last month, down from 1.45 million in October.
"The small decrease was driven by a fall in 'real unemployment' which dropped 88,000 to 1,362,000 (8.6% of the workforce, down 0.6%) – the lowest for five months since June 2024," said Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, in a statement.
The growth in employment was largely attributed to a surge in part-time jobs, with the number of part-time workers increasing by 420,000 to more than 5.1 million.
This surge coincided with the pre-Christmas and Black Friday sales period, which typically drives demand for part-time labour.
However, full-time employment saw a decline, with 237,000 fewer people holding full-time positions. Despite this, the number of people seeking full-time work increased by 58,000, indicating a shift in the job market.
Levine explained that the rise in part-time employment led to a drop in the number of people looking for part-time work, which decreased by 146,000 to 789,000.
"The main driver of the fall in unemployment in November was the increase in part-time employment which increased by 420,000 to above 5.1 million," she said. "This drove the number of Australians looking for part-time jobs down significantly."
In total, unemployment and underemployment combined slightly decreased to 18.4% of the workforce, or 2.91 million Australians, down 0.2% from the previous month. Underemployment, however, saw a rise of 68,000, bringing the number of underemployed individuals to 1.54 million.
Meanwhile, the workforce itself continued to grow, increasing by 95,000 to 15.79 million in November.
Despite this, Levine pointed out that the pace of job creation has not kept up with the growing workforce.
"The increase in population is clearly more than double the average population growth across a two-year period over the last 25 years," she said. "Since November 2022 the workforce has increased by over 870,000 and the employment level has increased by 850,000."
The Roy Morgan figures contrast sharply with the Australian Bureau of Statistics data, which reported an unemployment rate of 4.1% for October.
Roy Morgan's broader measure of unemployment and underemployment, however, suggests a more significant issue, with 18.4% of the workforce either unemployed or underemployed.
"These figures show that as we close in on another federal election, due by early next year, the Federal Government must make tackling these persistent high levels of unemployment [and] under-employment the number one priority heading into that election," Levine said.
