Morning Expresso – Australasia "Tuesday 21 July 2026"

Research evidence excerpt

Morning Expresso – Australasia "Tuesday 21 July 2026"

Australian Economic Comment - New ABS measures of labour market spare capacity; &

more slack than earlier thought

New, broader labour market statistics to be published Australia

The ABS has begun to roll-out new measures of labour market spare capacity. A new set of 14 'u-series'

measures have been introduced, grouped in underemployment (UD-1, UD-2, UD-3, UD-4), reduced

employment (RE-0, RE-1), unemployed (UN-1, UN-2, UN-3, UN-4), & which aggregates to the broadest

underutilisation measures (UU-1, UU-2, UU-3, UU-4). Conceptually, the higher the number in the

categorisation, the broader the scope of measurement. Figures 1 and 2 explain the differences. Lastly,

the new u-series measures include headcount rates as well as volume (hours-based) rates.

Current underemployment closest to new UD-3 measure

For underemployment, the current ABS definition includes: 1) FT employed people working less than 35

hours (i.e. part-time) due to economic reasons (i.e. involuntarily); & 2) PT employed who prefer and

available to work more hours. The u-series provides a new conceptual framework, with four groupings,

to enable a broader understanding of labour market slack. It appears the current underemployment

rate is closest conceptually to the new UD-3 measure, which includes those that prefer more hours, and

available last week (regardless if looked).

U-series measures: staged roll-out through to mid-2027

The u-series will be rolled out in stages, with fully implementation by mid-2027. Thursday's Jun-26

labour force report is not expected to contain the new u-series. The ABS will publish a new stand-alone

monthly release on 31 July. Upon full implementation, level 1 u-series estimates will be published in the