Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% (vs 4.2% expected) in August 2025, as employment edged down -5.4k MoM (vs +22k expected) but remained up +217.2k YoY, reflecting modest softness in full-time positions alongside stronger part-time gains.

• Employment stood at 14.63 million, down -5,400 MoM but up +1.5% YoY (+217,200). The fall was led by -40.9k in full-time jobs, partly offset by +35.5k part-time gains.

• The unemployed population fell -900 MoM to 647,400, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.2%. On an annual basis, unemployment rose +28.1k (+4.5%).

• Participation dipped -0.1 pts MoM to 66.8%, and was -0.2 pts lower than a year earlier, showing a slightly smaller share of people active in the labour force.

• The underemployment rate eased -0.1 pts MoM to 5.7%, a -0.8 pts improvement YoY, indicating fewer workers wanted more hours compared with last year.

• Monthly hours worked fell -8 million MoM (-0.4%) to 1.98 billion, though still up +20 million YoY (+1.0%), suggesting modest growth in overall labour input compared with 2024.