One common critique of the unemployment rate in Australia is that it understates the true level of spare capacity in the economy by excluding individuals who are willing and able to work, but are currently classified as Not in the Labour Force (NILF). The author of this paper outlines some alternative approaches for measuring unemployment.

The number of unemployment benefit recipients who remained on the unemployment benefit long-term (for two or more years) has climbed from 150,000 to nearly half a million between 2006 and early 2023. Does such a steep rise reflect a growing culture of benefit dependency in Australia? The authors of this paper find that it does...

The NSW Parliamentary Research Service has published the latest unemployment and JobSeeker estimates for all NSW electorates (September 2023).

The NSW Parliamentary Research Service has published the latest unemployment and JobSeeker estimates for all 93 NSW electorates (June 2023).

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decisions on interest rate increases rely on the concept of balancing inflation and unemployment. The authors of this paper argue that the official unemployment rate is based on strict and outdated definitions, and significantly underestimates the actual number of Australians looking for work.