A wave of young people entering the workforce has helped the December unemployment rate fall to 4.1 percent seasonally adjusted.
This was down from 4.3 percent in November.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, released today, show a jump of 65,000 in total employment in December.
Full-time employment was up by 55,000 jobs and part-time by 10,000.
ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said the growth in employment was driven by male employment, which rose by 49,000 people.
Female employment was up by 17,000 people.
“This month we saw more 15-24 year olds moving into employment, contributing to the rise in overall employment and the fall in the unemployment rate,” Mr Crick said.
“The growth in employed people led to the participation rate rising slightly to 66.7 percent. This was despite a 30,000 person drop in unemployment.”
In December 2025, seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked reached a record high of more than two billion hours for the first time.
The underemployment rate (people wanting to work more hours) fell 0.5 percentage points to 5.7 percent in December.
“Fewer young people were underemployed in December, with the 15-19 year old underemployment rate falling by 2.1 percentage points to 17.4 percent,” Mr Crick said.
“For all ages, the male underemployment rate fell by 0.8 percentage points to 4.6 percent, and the female underemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.9 percent in December.”
The full report is available on the ABS website
