The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Australia stood at 3.5% in August 2022, down 1.1% compared to the same period last year, according to the latest research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

When compared to the previous month, the unemployment rate rose by 0.1% from 3.4%

The number of unemployed persons stood at 487,700 in August, down by 132,500, or 21.4%, when compared to the same period last year, but up by 14,000 (3.0%) when compared to July 2022.

The youth unemployment rate increased to 8.4%.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate was highest in the state of Tasmania at 4.9%, and lowest at the Australian Capital Territory at 2.7%.

The number of employed persons in August stood at 13.59 million, up 4.4% over the year or 570,300 persons. Over the month, this figure increased by 33,500, or 0.2%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs totalled 1.85 billion in August up 136 million, or 7.9%, over the year. Over the month, monthly hours rose 14 million, or 0.8%.

In August, the labour force participation rate stood at 66.6%, up 1.4% over the year and 0.8% over the month.

Lauren Ford, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said, “During the pandemic, we have seen changing patterns in employment and hours worked in the months with and after school holidays.”

“The August rise in employment and hours occurred after the winter school holidays and flooding events in New South Wales, where we saw more people than usual working fewer hours in July,” Ford added."Covid-19 and other illness related worker absences continued to be reflected in hours worked in August.

“The number of people working reduced hours due to being sick remained elevated in August, at around 760,000 people,” Ford continued. “This is around double the number we typically see at the end of winter.”