Official unemployment rate rises slightly in August, more Australians hold multiple jobs

Australia’s official unemployment rate has been released as more people than ever hold down more than one job.

Australia’s very low unemployment rate increased slightly in August.

The official jobless rate rose from 3.4 per cent in July to 3.5 per cent, according to the latest monthly figures handed down on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It’s the first time the unemployment rate has risen in 10 months and returns the figure to the level recorded in June.

But there are also more Australians than ever who are working more than one job.

The number of multiple job holders reached a record high of 900,000 people in the June quarter 2022, an increase of 4.3 per cent, according to figures released by the ABS on Wednesday.

ABS head of labour statistics Lauren Ford said this figure represented 6.5 per cent of all officially employed people.

“This is the highest rate since the quarterly series commenced in 1994, and about 0.5 percentage points above its pre-pandemic level,” she said.

“Along with the 4.3 per cent increase in the number of multiple job holders, the number of jobs worked as secondary jobs also increased, by 5.5 per cent, and passed 1 million for the first time.”

More Australians than ever now hold more than one job.

The official unemployment rate remains the lowest since August 1974, when it was 2.7 per cent and the ABS released the figures on a quarterly basis instead of each month.

The number of formally unemployed people increased by 13,400 to 487,700 in August.

But the number of formally employed people also increased, by 33,500 to 13,592,100.

Underemployment, which measures people who have a job and who want to work more hours, dropped from 6 per cent in July to 5.9 per cent in August.

The participation rate, which tracks the number of people in work or looking for it, rose from 66.4 per cent to 66.6 per cent.

The participation rate is now 0.2 percentage points below the record high in June and 0.7 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.

Originally published as Official unemployment rate rises slightly in August, more Australians hold multiple jobs