The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the unemployment figures for May. Unemployment in May dropped from 4.5% to 4.4%, which is good news. Although, for now, the broader trend seems to be one of increasing unemployment.
By Greg Jericho
Thu 25 Jun 2026 15.20 AEST
Photo: AAP Image/Susie Dodds
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the unemployment figures for May. Unemployment in May dropped from 4.5% to 4.4%, which is good news.
Although, for now, the broader trend seems to be one of increasing unemployment.
The big growth in employment, came in youth employment – undoing some of the fall recorded in last month’s figures.
Outside of youth employment, there were not many other forms of employment growth.
And because almost all of the increase employment for those under 25 was part-time, it continued the slowing of full-time employment growth – just 0.5% in annual terms
All in all, I should not think there is too much that will bother the Reserve Bank that would lead to them thinking they should raise rates
Yes, the RBA is comfortable with unemployment rising, and are always worried that lower unemployment will set of a wage-price spiral. But these figures do not suggest much – other than that in April, employment fell by 40,652 and in May it rose by 40,343. So, we’re pretty much back where we were in March.
