Unemployment rate steady in June at 4.4pc

June unemployment rate steady at 4.4pc but underemployment ticks up By business reporter Gareth Hutchens Posted Thu 23 Jul 2026 at 11:48am Australia's unemployment rate remained at 4.4 per cent in June, in seasonally adjusted terms. Data show 76,000 extra people gained employment last month, driven by a 47,000-person rise in part-time employment. That increase in part-time employment saw the underemployment rate pick up from 6.3 to 6.5 per cent. Australian Bureau of Statistics head of labour statistics Sean Crick said the participation rate rose by 0.3 percentage point to 67 per cent in June. "People aged 55-64 years old had the largest annual growth in the participation rate, up 0.8 percentage points to 70.6 per cent," he said. In trend terms, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.4 per cent.