Official data, plain English
The job market, explained
Plain-English briefings on official job market data: online job ads by occupation and region from Jobs and Skills Australia, and employment and unemployment from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Online job ads, Australia
Online job ads,
211,500
up 1.5% on a year earlier Steady
Unemployment rate,
4.7%
up 0.3 points on a year earlier Rising
Employed people,
14,782,700
up 1.2% on a year earlier
Job ads seasonally adjusted. Labour force seasonally adjusted.
By occupation
Online job ads across Australia in , seasonally adjusted, and the change on a year earlier.
- Managers25,700up 5.2% Rising
- Professionals60,900up 1.7% Steady
- Technicians and Trades Workers30,500up 3.1% Steady
- Community and Personal Service Workers19,700down 4.2% Steady
- Clerical and Administrative Workers30,100down 3.9% Steady
- Sales Workers16,300down 0.5% Steady
- Machinery Operators and Drivers14,100up 12.5% Rising
- Labourers14,600up 4.8% Steady
By state and region
Each state and territory has its own page with job ads, unemployment and its job ad regions. Change in job ads on a year earlier:
How the words are written
Every sentence about the numbers follows fixed rules: whether ads rose, fell or held steady over a stated period, and by how much. No guesswork about why. Every figure links back to the official release it came from.
Who it is for
Job seekers
See where ads are rising and which occupation groups carry the most of them in your region.
Find your regionStudents
Look at five years of ads for the occupations you are considering, not just this month.
Browse occupationsEmployers
See the market you are hiring in: how many ads compete for the same people, and which way it is moving.
Choose a stateThe monthly briefing
One short email when new data is out.
Latest issue
Issue 1: September 2026 data
What the October releases from Jobs and Skills Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics say about September 2026.
ReadGet the monthly briefing
One email a month when new data is out: the headline numbers, what moved, and links to the pages for your state.
Part of Career Calling
Once you know where the work is, these Career Calling services can help with the next step.
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Sources and licences
Online job ads: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index (opens another site), data, released . © Commonwealth of Australia, used under CC BY 4.0 (opens another site). Figures rounded; changes, shares and descriptions by Career Calling Insights.
Labour force: Australian Bureau of Statistics () 'Table 001. Labour force status by Sex, Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original' and 'Table 010. Labour force status by Sex, State and Territory - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original' [time series spreadsheets], Labour Force, Australia (opens another site), released , accessed 8 November 2026. Used under CC BY 4.0 (opens another site). Figures rounded; changes and descriptions by Career Calling Insights.
Neither publisher endorses this site. How the numbers are turned into words: methodology. Spotted an error? Tell us.