Australia vs United States: Monthly unemployment rates
Monthly unemployment rates over time
- Australia
- United States
How they compare
Australia currently reports 4.2 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup against 4.02 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup in United States, a difference of 0.18 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 58 shared years of data; in 1967 it was United States ahead.
Australia ranks 25th and United States ranks 26th of 32 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 2 and United States in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.84 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 3.64 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 1.8 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | United States |
| 1970s | 3.92 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 6.21 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 2.29 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | United States |
| 1980s | 7.59 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 7.27 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 0.3132 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | Australia |
| 1990s | 8.77 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 5.76 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 3.01 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | Australia |
| 2000s | 5.47 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 5.54 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 0.0652 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | United States |
| 2010s | 5.51 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 6.23 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 0.7142 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | United States |
| 2020s | 4.6 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 4.95 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | 0.3498 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher monthly unemployment rates, Australia or United States?
- Australia, at 4.2 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup against 4.02 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in monthly unemployment rates between Australia and United States?
- 0.18 Percentage of labour force in the same subgroup, with Australia ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and United States?
- 58 years are reported by both, from 1967 to 2024.
- How do Australia and United States rank globally for monthly unemployment rates?
- Australia ranks 25th and United States ranks 26th of 32 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Monthly unemployment rates. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The infra-annual dataflow on the monthly unemployment rate is a subset of the infra-annual labour statistics database, which contains predominantly monthly and quarterly statistics on the unemployed population by age groups (15+, 15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 15-74 where available) and sex and associated statistical methodological information and associated statistical methodological information, for the OECD member countries and for selected other economies. The unemployment rate is calculated as the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force (i.e., the unemployed plus those in employment). The unemployed are persons in their working age who, in the reference period, do not have a job; are available for work; and, have taken specific steps to find a job. Chile, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom publish Labour Force Survey (LFS) data using a rolling quarter methodology. The OECD treats the middle month of the rolling quarter as the reference month. As a result, the publication of monthly LFS data for these countries may be delayed by one month or more relative to the OECD reference month. The infra-annual labour statistics compiled for all OECD member countries, are drawn from Labour Force Surveys based on definition provided by the 19th Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013. The uniform application of these definitions across all OECD member countries results in estimates that are internationally comparable.