Australia's August jobs report is due 24 September: unemployment was 4.5% in July as employment fell 15,800

The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes its August labour force figures on Thursday 24 September 2026, five days before the Reserve Bank of Australia announces its interest rate decision on 29 September (RBA preview). It is the last major jobs report before that meeting.

What the July report showed

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in July from 4.4% in June. The details:

• Employment: down 15,800 people, or 0.1%, to 14,807,200. The number of unemployed people rose by 4,000
• Full-time and part-time: full-time employment rose by 16,300 to 10,210,500, while part-time employment fell by 32,200 to 4,596,700
• Participation rate: 66.9%, down 0.2 percentage points
• Hours worked: monthly hours in all jobs fell by 12.5 million, or 0.6%, to 1,998 million
• Youth unemployment (15–24 years): 10.4%, down 0.3 percentage points
• Underemployment rate: 6.4%, unchanged

What to know before the release

The ABS says it is removing the supplementary survey adjustment factors it applies in February and August, and expects that to have a small effect on how much estimates for those months vary. Monthly employment changes in Australia can be volatile, and a single month rarely settles the trend, so the unemployment rate and hours worked are usually read together with participation.

Why it matters for the RBA and the Australian dollar

In August the RBA said labour market conditions had "eased by a little more than expected in recent months" and that it would consider raising the cash rate further if upside risks to inflation materialised (report). Another soft reading would fit that description; a rebound in jobs and hours would add to the case for keeping the option to raise open. Inflation for August follows on 30 September, the day after the RBA decision (week-ahead calendar).

For AUD/USD, the response to jobs data tends to be quickest when the result is far from expectations and when it changes what traders think the RBA will do. How to read an economic calendar explains actual, forecast and previous readings, and commodity currencies explained covers the other drivers of the Australian dollar.