Q2 Labour Account: new record in multiple job holdings
Fresh record high in multiple job holdings as cost-of-living pressures bite.
For more charts and industry comparisons: Westpac Chart Pack – Q2 Labour Account
- The Q2 Labour Account continued to point to solid jobs growth, with filled jobs rising by 111k in the quarter after a robust 135k gain in Q1 and further solid increases over the second half of last year.
- A striking feature of the result was the sharp lift in secondary jobs, which nearly matched the gain in main jobs and pushed the multiple job holder rate to a fresh record high of 6.9%, consistent with cost-of-living pressures leading more people to seek extra work.
- The strength in jobs growth suggests labour demand and supply are settling around a firmer level than implied by the monthly Labour Force Survey alone, where employment growth has been much softer.
- Industry detail was broadly constructive, with goods production and several consumer-facing services leading market sector gains. Care economy jobs growth remains positive but slower than the ramp-up over 2022-24.
Overview
The Q2 Labour Account continues to paint a solid picture when it comes to jobs growth, the number of filled jobs increasing by 111k in Q2. This builds on robust gains of 135k in Q1 and 165k over the second half of last year, marking a steady recovery in jobs growth following the trough around mid-2025.
The main surprise in Q2 was the fact that a large portion of jobs growth was in ‘secondary’ jobs (+52k), nearly matching the gain in ‘main’ jobs during the quarter (+59k). This resulted in a sharp lift in the multiple job holder rate, up to a fresh record high of 6.9%, well above the peak just after the labour market was at its tightest point after the pandemic. A rise in multiple job holdings is consistent with our earlier observations on the impact of cost-of-living concerns, leading many individuals to seek extra hours of work or additional jobs in order to buffer against these pressures.
The recent sharp lift in the underemployment rate (i.e. those able and willing to work additional hours) in the monthly data hinted at this cost-of-living dynamic re-emerging, but its true scale was obscured by the fact that the monthly data only captures employment, not jobs, of which you can have multiple. Indeed, jobs growth in the Labour Account is running at 2.6%yr, whereas employment growth in the monthly Labour Force Survey is running at a much more anaemic 1.1%yr on a quarter-average basis – that difference owing secondary jobs growth.
So far in 2026, we have seen the labour market gradually soften and the unemployment rate tick higher, up to 4.5% as of July. More recently, it appears the labour market is roughly in balance: increases in employment coincide with an increase in labour force participation, and vice versa. Squaring this with the Labour Account data, it appears that balance is around a firmer level of labour demand and supply than initially assumed based on the Labour Force Survey data alone.
It is true that some headwinds were starting to emerge during the latest quarter, particularly the spike in uncertainty associated with the Middle East conflict. But the labour market is further downstream from these shocks, meaning the Q2 result is still largely feeding off the earlier recovery in economic growth, rather than yet fully reflecting the more challenging conditions that have started to take shape.
As we discussed in our national accounts write-up, productivity growth remains soft, with weakness evident across both the market and non-market sectors of the economy. The mining sector, which is often volatile on a productivity basis, acted as a drag on market sector productivity overall, but the broad strokes aren’t significantly changes. The RBA will likely be concerned with the result of weaker productivity growth and stronger unit labour costs, especially given the Fair Work Commission’s larger-than-expected award wage increase will be handed down next quarter, which may increase some of these pressures on the cost base. We remain more positive on Australia’s productivity growth outlook than the RBA, but the longer productivity growth remains subdued and unit labour costs rise at this pace, the more uneasy the RBA will be about the inflation outlook.
Industry Insights
Goods production was the standout in Q2, posting the largest contribution to market sector jobs growth. While this largely speaks to the strength of the construction industry, there are more favourable signs of momentum building across other industries too. Consumer-facing services industries are generally holding above the national average on a jobs growth basis, suggesting these industries were responding positively to consumer demand. Business services were mixed, with key subplots emerging across industries.
Goods Production
- Construction continues to grow jobs at a solid and consistent pace, +14.3k in Q2 marking the sixth consecutive quarterly gain. Jobs growth is centred on construction services, and more recently has skewed toward building construction, likely capturing some of the data centre build-out that has emerged over recent quarters.
- Manufacturing appears to be exiting a very challenging period. Persistent job declines over 2024 and 2025 left manufacturing ranking worst out of all industries on jobs growth. Come 2026, gains of +10.1k in Q1 and +6.4k in Q2, together with a lift in productivity and job vacancies mark an encouraging shift in trend.
- Utilities is the smallest industry in Australia for jobs but it is performing very well – a ninth consecutive quarter of jobs growth, with gains broad-based across most sub-categories reflecting robust growth in state and local government employment for essential services.
- Mining has also maintained a solid run of jobs growth, up 2.4k in Q2. Gains have more recently been skewed to exploration and non-metallic mineral mining/quarrying. Job vacancies remain elevated in the mining sector, only a fraction below post-pandemic peaks.
Business Services
- Professional, Scientific & Technical Services has held onto a modest but consistent pace of jobs growth, Q2’s gain of 9.2k marking the third consecutive quarterly increase. This has kept the sector in line with the national average pace of jobs growth, coinciding with a lift in productivity.
- Financial & Insurance Services recorded another solid gain, up +7.4k, almost entirely driven by secondary jobs. However, the sector’s level of job vacancies is much lower versus most other industries, suggesting labour demand is on a softer footing. Whether some of this may be due to AI is an important question, especially given its growing adoption in finance and auxiliary services, though official studies suggest there is limited evidence thus far.
- Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services reported a small decline in jobs growth, down –1.6k in Q2, centred on property operators and real estate services. Given the small size and timing of the fall, it is too early to attribute it to the changes to housing tax policy in the Federal Budget, though this will be an unfolding story over the coming quarters.
- Administrative & Support Services posted a smaller increase in Q2 (+3.5k) after a bumper gain in Q1 (+17.9k), the slowing centred on the smaller segment of building cleaning, pest control and other support services, rather than the larger labour hire services sector, which has broader spillovers into other industries.
- Information Media & Telecommunications had a slightly better quarter, jobs growth printing 3.6k in Q2 after bumping around flat for a number of quarters. While still early days, some stronger momentum is starting to build in internet and data processing related fields, alongside motion picture and sound recording activities.
Market Household Services
- Accommodation & Food Services bounced back with a +14k jobs gain in jobs following the sluggish start to the year, growth centred on food and beverage services in particular. That said, momentum has clearly started to wane in the sector, and the main risk is that this trend persists should consumer spending hold to a sluggish pace.
- Arts & Recreation, while a smaller industry jobs-wise, continues to show more encouraging signs of a rebound. The number of filled jobs increased by 4k in Q2, bringing the jobs growth pace further above the national average, making up for the large drawdown over 2024.
- Other Services managed to eke out a 1.8k increase in Q2, continuing a string of jobs growth over the past year, with gains now more evenly spread between repair/maintenance and personal/other services.
Non-Market Sector
- Health Care & Social Assistance, Australia’s largest industry for jobs, had a solid step-up in jobs growth in Q2, up 26k. This follows about a year of anaemic growth after the massive ramp-up in care economy employment over the course of 2022-24, where jobs growth was driven by social assistance, such as aged care, childcare and especially disability care with the NDIS. Instead, this latest gain was driven by hospitals and medical/other health care services. At this stage, there is no clear signs of jobs growth resurging in social assistance categories like in 2022-24, which may remain the case given the Federal Government’s plans to slow growth in the NDIS, although that remains to be seen.
- Education & Training was broadly stable on the jobs growth front, posting only a modest gain of 1.4k in Q2 after a bumper gain in Q1 and fairly consistent growth through much of 2025. Job vacancies remain elevated in the sector, especially in the pre-school and school segment.
- Public Administration & Safety posted a sharp decline, down 7.1k in Q2 after five straight quarters of growth. Given Q2 is a seasonally stronger quarter, the decline in seasonally adjusted terms speaks to a softer hiring effort for the sector over recent months, rather than actual outright declines.
Goods Distribution
- Retail Trade built on Q1’s momentum, growing the number of jobs by 11k in Q2. Being more directly exposed to the consumer, retail trade is still moving past the extended and sluggish period of growth over 2024-25. Recent momentum is encouraging, but it is dependent on the health of the consumer here on out.
- Wholesale Trade expanded its level of filled jobs by 2.7k in Q2, a smaller increase than Q1’s 6.9k, but an encouraging sign of recovery nonetheless given the extended string of declines from 2024-25. Job vacancies have been rising strongly once again in the sector, and so too labour productivity.
- Transport, Postal & Warehousing remains a great example of consistent jobs growth, printing its eighth consecutive gain at 8.1k in Q2, leaving its growth pace above the national average. Gains have been centred on road transport (including taxis/rideshare) and in postal/courier/delivery services.
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