Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in August 2026, up from 4.5% in July and above market expectations, marking the highest jobless rate since November 2021. The number of unemployed individuals expanded by 28,200 to a five-year high of 722,900, with full-time searchers up 15,700 to 481,000 and part-time searchers up 12,500 to 242,000. Despite the uptick, total employment increased by 39,500 to a record 14.84 million, comfortably beating forecasts for a 20,000 gain and reversing a revised 15,900 decline in July, while annual employment growth reached 238,100 positions, or 1.6%. Local financial markets reacted negatively to the mixed labor statistics, with the S&P/ASX 200 plunging 1.3% to 8,649 in early deals and the Australian dollar weakening to around $0.70, a seven-week low.
Australian dollar weakened to a seven-week low after mixed labor data showed unemployment rising to 4.6%, boosting RBA rate-cut expectations.
