This article has been translated from English to Gen Z Slang.

So, like, Australia's labor scene took a hardcore L in September, losing a whopping 34k jobs, leaving unemployment at a high-key 4.5%, fam. 😬

Everyone thought we'd see a 20.5K boost in jobs, but instead, August already had a downgraded 11.9K job loss, and peeps were expectin' that unemployment would chill at 4.3%.

Main Takeaways

  • The gig game was down by 34k in September, and only like 15k new gigs pulled up, totally missing the market's vibe check
  • Unemployment rate jumped to 4.5% (seasonally adjusted), which is a major glow-up from 4.3% in August, marking a highkey peak since October 2021
  • Aussie dollar did a nosedive 0.5% against the US dollar to 64.85 cents after peeps saw the tea spill
  • 3-year bond yields took an L, dropping 12 basis points to 3.36%, cuz everyone’s betting on RBA snipping them rates
  • Participation rate had a small glow-up to 67.0%, showing more Aussies tryna snag jobs but kinda flopping
  • Pressed full-time added 8,700 gigs, while part-time chipped in 6,300 jobs
  • Markets are now eyeing RBA for a rate cut at the Nov 5 Melbourne Cup Day meet-up

The details showed that around 451,000 people got gigs last month, but 398,000 ghosted their jobs — total net loss of 34k. Rip. 🤷‍♂️

August was a whole different vibe with 461,000 peeps jumping into gigs and 483,000 making a quiet exit. While hiring is still pretty lit, jobs are stabilizing but it's not enough to shut down the job market drama.

Link to ABS Labour Force Survey (September 2025)

Yo, the seasonally tweaked rate flipping up 0.2 points from 4.3% to 4.5% totally caught most markets off guard, peaking since October 2021. Even though trends say unemployment stayed chill at 4.3%, this actually hides more weakness in the monthly stats that the nerds love to geek out on. 📈

The participation glow-up to 67.0% shades the whole job sitch in more confusion. More Aussies are hunting for work vibes, but the economy kinda failed to be the plug. 😬

Hours clocked in had a whooping +9 million to hit 1,987 million in seasonal terms. But like, this little win doesn’t do much to make the job market look less sus. 🙃

Market Vibes

Aussie Dollar  vs. Major Currencies: 5-min

Overlay of AUD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView

Overlay of AUD vs. Major Currencies Chart by TradingView

So the Aussie dollar was kinda chillin' before the jobs tea hit the fan, but then it nosedived hard after people peeped the weaker stats, probs because folks are betting on a sick RBA rate cut next month.

The AUD totally dipped against U.S. dollar (-0.39%), Canadian dollar (-0.31%), Swiss franc (-0.26%), British pound (-0.47%), euro (-0.50%), Japanese yen (-0.43%), and New Zealand dollar (-0.62%), and the dip stuck around for hours.