Why more than 3 million Australians aren't finding enough work

Thursday, 11 December 2025 12:52

The sluggish economy has put a brake on job creation in Australia, leaving a huge chunk of the workforce paying the price.

For 12 consecutive months the number of Australians either jobless or underemployed has totalled more than 3 million, according to a new study.

Market research company Roy Morgan has crunched the figures on people out of work or seeking more employment over the past year and found Australia's economy is struggling to create jobs.

Last month the country's 'real' unemployment rate - a percentage of the workforce both employed and unemployed - was virtually unchanged at 1,628,000, or 10 per cent of the workforce.

But factoring in 'shadow' workers - freelancers and part-time staff - shows a further 1.7 million are hungry for more work.

Roy Morgan estimates for last month show overall unemployment and under-employment increasing 54,000 to 3,337,000, equivalent to 21 per cent of the workforce.

Chief executive Michele Levine says combined unemployment and under-employment is continuing at level of 3.3. million.

"A look at the employment market over the last year shows little change in the overall picture with employment down from a year ago by 91,000 to 14,339,000," she said.

"Full-time employment is down 64,000 to 9,203,000, and part-time employment is down 27,000 to 5,136,000 from a year ago indicating the economy has struggled to create new jobs over this period."

Levine says the low level of productivity in the economy is stifling growth and leading to the labour market stagnating.

Figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was steady at 4.3 per cent in November - roughly in line with market expectations.

The number of unemployed and employed people fell in November, by 2000 and by 21,000 respectively.

The underemployment rate rose by 0.4 percentage points to 6.2 per cent in November.

This was 0.1 percentage points higher than November 2024, and 2.6 percentage points lower than March 2020.

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