Weekly Retail Industry Unemployment Report: Australia
Prepared for: aussiework.au
Report date: 10 June 2026
Author: Manus AI
Executive summary
Australia’s retail labour market remains soft but not distressed. The headline national unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in April 2026 in seasonally adjusted terms, while the more stable trend unemployment rate remained at 4.3%.1 For the retail sector specifically, the latest official industry-level labour-force data are for February 2026, because ABS industry data are quarterly and were published in the final issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed.2
Using ABS unemployed-persons data by industry division of last job and ABS/JSA retail employment data, Aussie Work estimates a retail-industry unemployment proxy of 3.7% in February 2026. This is not the same as the national headline unemployment rate; it is a practical retail-sector estimate based on people whose last job was in Retail Trade plus current retail employment. On that basis, around 50,700 unemployed people in February had last worked in Retail Trade, up 5.2% from the previous quarter but down 4.0% from a year earlier.2 Retail Trade employed about 1.34 million Australians, representing 9.1% of the workforce, with a high part-time share of 50%.3
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Indicator
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Latest reading
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Direction
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What it means for retail hiring
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National unemployment rate
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4.5% in April 2026, seasonally adjusted
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Higher than March
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More applicants may be available, but retail still competes for reliable casual and part-time workers.1
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Retail unemployment proxy
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3.7% in February 2026
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Up from 3.5% in November 2025
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Retail candidate availability improved slightly but remains relatively contained.2
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Retail unemployed, last job in retail
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50,700 people in February 2026
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Up 5.2% quarterly; down 4.0% yearly
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More ex-retail candidates are looking, but not enough to remove hiring pressure in busy locations.2
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Retail employment
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1,338,300 workers in February 2026
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Up 0.2% over the year in JSA trend data
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Retail remains one of Australia’s largest job sources and continues to absorb workers.3
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Online job advertisements
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212,000 in April 2026, seasonally adjusted
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Down 0.9% monthly
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Labour demand is easing, but ads remain about 25% above the 2019 average.4
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What changed this week
The most important change is that the broader labour market has cooled. ABS reported that seasonally adjusted employment fell by 18,600 people in April and the number of unemployed people rose by 33,000 to 692,500.1 That matters for retail because household-facing industries usually feel both sides of a cooling economy: consumers become more price-sensitive, while jobseekers become more active.
For retail employers, the data suggest a mixed operating environment. There is a slightly larger pool of people with recent retail experience, but hiring is not automatically easy. Retail Trade has a younger median age, a high female workforce share, and a large part-time workforce, so availability often depends on roster design, location, transport access and predictable hours rather than unemployment alone.3
Retail unemployment estimate
ABS does not publish a simple monthly “retail unemployment rate” equivalent to the national unemployment rate. The best practical method for a weekly industry report is to use the ABS table for unemployed people by industry division of last job, then compare those unemployed former retail workers with current Retail Trade employment. This produces a useful but approximate sector measure.
Retail unemployment proxy: unemployed people whose last job was in Retail Trade divided by current Retail Trade employment plus unemployed people whose last job was in Retail Trade.
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Retail labour-market measure
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February 2026 estimate
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Retail Trade employed workers
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1,337,400 to 1,338,300 people, depending on ABS/JSA presentation
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Unemployed people whose last job was Retail Trade
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50,700 people
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Estimated retail unemployment proxy
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3.7%
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Full-time work seekers among unemployed former retail workers
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27,900 people, or about 55%
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Part-time-only work seekers among unemployed former retail workers
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22,800 people, or about 45%
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Average job-search duration for unemployed former retail workers
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17.9 weeks
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This result points to a retail labour market that is looser than late 2025 but still relatively healthy. The proxy rose from 3.5% in November 2025 to 3.7% in February 2026, mainly because the number of unemployed former retail workers rose by about 2,500 over the quarter.2 Compared with February 2025, however, the number was still about 2,100 lower, showing that retail has not experienced a broad unemployment shock.2
Where the unemployed former retail workers are
New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland account for the largest number of unemployed people whose last job was in Retail Trade, which is expected because these states also have the largest labour markets. The figures should be read as approximate candidate-pool signals rather than a direct ranking of hardship, because they do not adjust for each state’s retail workforce size.
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State or territory
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Unemployed people whose last job was Retail Trade, February 2026
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New South Wales
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16,800
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Victoria
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12,500
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Queensland
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8,600
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Western Australia
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7,400
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South Australia
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2,900
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Tasmania
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1,400
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Northern Territory
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700
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Australian Capital Territory
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400
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The state distribution is useful for recruitment planning. In practical terms, employers in NSW and Victoria may see more applications per retail vacancy, while employers in smaller or regional markets may still need to compete more strongly on roster certainty, public-transport-friendly shifts and fast onboarding.
Retail demand signals from job ads
Vacancy data show that hiring demand has cooled from the peak, but it remains above pre-pandemic norms. ABS reported 337,900 total job vacancies in February 2026, up 2.7% from November 2025 in seasonally adjusted terms.5 Jobs and Skills Australia reported that online job advertisements fell to 212,000 in April 2026, down 0.9% over the month, but still about 25% above the monthly average for 2019.4
SEEK’s February 2026 employment dashboard gives a more retail-specific signal. National job ads fell 0.5% month on month and were 2.6% lower year on year, but Retail & Consumer Products was one of the few industries to grow over the month, up 0.9%.6 SEEK also reported that in Western Australia, Retail & Consumer Products ads rose 2.8% over the month, suggesting that hiring pockets remain strong even when the national market is softening.6
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Source
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Latest signal
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Retail interpretation
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ABS Job Vacancies
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Vacancies rose 2.7% to 337,900 in February 2026
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Employers are still advertising, though vacancies remain below the 2022 peak.5
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JSA Internet Vacancy Index
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Online job ads fell 0.9% to 212,000 in April 2026
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Demand is easing but still elevated compared with 2019.4
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SEEK Employment Dashboard
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Retail & Consumer Products ads rose 0.9% month on month in February
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Retail hiring demand held up better than many white-collar categories.6
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JSA Vacancy Report
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Sales Worker ads fell 8.1% in February 2026
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Entry-level retail hiring may be more selective than late 2025.7
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Retailer examples: which parts of retail are up or down?
Company trading updates show that retail is not moving in one direction. Food, value, e-commerce and logistics-linked retail remain resilient, while some discretionary and liquor categories are weaker. These examples help explain why retail unemployment can rise slightly while some employers still need staff.
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Retailer or segment
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Recent movement
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Why it matters for jobs
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Coles Supermarkets
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Sales revenue up 4.0% in Q3 FY26; comparable sales up 3.6%
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Strong grocery sales support demand for checkout, replenishment, online fulfilment and department team members.8
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Coles Liquor
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Sales revenue down 3.9%; comparable sales down 4.3%
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Softer liquor trading may reduce hours or slow hiring in weaker stores.8
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Woolworths Group
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Group Q3 sales up 4.5% to A$18.09 billion
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Large food retailers remain major employers even in a cautious consumer market.9
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BIG W
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Q3 sales up 3.9%; Easter-adjusted sales up 1.1%
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Growth is positive but modest after adjusting for calendar effects, so hiring may be targeted rather than broad-based.10
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Kmart
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H1 FY26 revenue up 3.2% to $6.4 billion
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Value-led department stores remain relatively well positioned as consumers manage cost-of-living pressure.11
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Bunnings
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H1 FY26 sales up 4.0% to $10.6 billion
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Hardware and home-improvement demand continues to support sales, operations and supply-chain jobs.11
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The key lesson is that grocery and value retail are stronger than the headline unemployment number suggests. A former retail worker may find more opportunities in supermarkets, discount department stores, fulfilment, replenishment and store person roles than in weaker discretionary or liquor categories. Jobs and Skills Australia also noted elevated demand for Store persons, with job advertisements for that occupation more than 60% above their 2019 average in February 2026, reflecting ongoing e-commerce and supply-chain needs.7
Practical hiring tip for retail employers
Retail employers should treat June as a good time to hire for reliability before the next peak period. The data show a slightly larger pool of candidates with retail experience, but the best applicants still respond quickly to clear, practical offers. A strong retail job ad should include the expected weekly hours, likely shift times, weekend requirements, training period, hourly rate or award classification, and whether the role can lead to supervisor, online fulfilment or store person pathways.
For small and medium retailers, the most effective adjustment is to advertise stable roster patterns, not just “flexibility”. Many retail candidates are students, parents or workers combining more than one job. A job ad that says “three fixed shifts per week, including Saturday morning” will often outperform a vague ad saying “must be available seven days”, because the clearer offer reduces uncertainty for applicants and improves attendance after hiring.
Outlook for the next month
The next national labour-force release will provide a fresher read on the unemployment rate, but the next detailed retail industry employment update is delayed because ABS has temporarily suspended some industry outputs during Labour Force Survey modernisation.2 Until the next full industry update, the best weekly read is to watch three indicators together: national unemployment, online retail job ads and trading updates from large employers.
For aussiework.au readers, the practical message is straightforward. Retail is not booming across every category, but it remains one of Australia’s largest employment pathways. Candidates should target supermarkets, discount stores, online fulfilment, stock replenishment and store person roles. Employers should move quickly on suitable applicants, because even in a softer labour market, reliable retail staff remain valuable.
References
Footnotes
1.Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, April 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
3.Jobs and Skills Australia, Retail Trade industry profile. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
4.Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index, April 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
5.Australian Bureau of Statistics, Job Vacancies, Australia, February 2026. ↩ ↩2
6.SEEK, SEEK Employment Dashboard, February 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
7.Jobs and Skills Australia, Vacancy Report, February 2026. ↩ ↩2
8.Coles Group, 2026 Third Quarter Sales Results. ↩ ↩2
9.Retail Insight Network, Woolworths posts 4.5% rise in Q3 sales. ↩
10.Ragtrader, Clothing drives Big W sales in third quarter. ↩
11.Inside Retail Australia, Bunnings, Kmart lead earnings growth for Wesfarmers. ↩ ↩2