Labour Force data released today shows unemployment rose to 4.5% in July.
Since Labor came to power, the unemployment rate has increased 0.6% and 138,000 more Australians are out of work.
Youth unemployment remains more than twice the national rate at 10.4% and there are 63,800 more young Australians unemployed now than when the Coalition left office.
The employment to population ratio continues to hold steady at 64%, meaning Labor's job claims really reflect population growth.
According to Seek, applications per job ad have risen every single month since January and are now at a record high - meaning more Australians are applying for each job than ever before.
This data follows the latest Wage Price Index for the June 2026 quarter showing real wages have sat below their June 2022 level for every single one of the sixteen quarters since Labor took office.
Attributable to the Deputy Leader:
This is Labor's economy: more Australians out of work, young Australians being left behind and working Australians going backwards.
Labor can talk about headline jobs numbers all it likes, but the fact is that employment growth has simply kept pace up with population growth.
More people are chasing every job than ever before. That is not what a strong labour market looks like - it is what happens when job opportunities fail to keep pace with the people looking for work.
Attributable to the Shadow Treasurer:
Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers' active inflation agenda is wreaking havoc on the Australian economy, with prices running well ahead of wages, productivity down the drain, inflation remaining high, and the unemployment rate going up.
The latest ABS data confirms that despite Australians working more, they are taking less home in their pay packet.
