Employment

Employment in the Hunter (see below and footnotes for region definitions) has continued a modest upward trend. Over the most recent month, employment changed by around 1,800, and over a three-month horizon by about 2,300. Over longer horizons, employment is up around 5,900 over six months and around 7,400 added over the past year (about +2.0%), reaching roughly 371,000. This points to an underlying trajectory of gradual growth, albeit with month-to-month volatility. Over the same year, NSW employment grew by around 60,600 (about +1.4%), so the Hunter has broadly kept pace with the state in percentage terms.

Note that for the Hunter, employment statistics are collected at the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4), including the SA4s of ‘Hunter Valley excluding Newcastle’, and ‘Newcastle and Lake Macquarie’, but excluding the Mid-Coast LGA which is classified in the Mid North Coast SA4 region. Hence data for the Hunter Region in this section excludes the Mid-Coast LGA.

Data source: ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed

Unemployment

Data source: ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed

Labour market conditions in the Hunter have softened over recent months, broadly in line with NSW. The overall unemployment rate has held at around 4.5%, similar to the NSW rate of 4.5%, after sitting closer to 4.0% late in 2025. The increase is more pronounced among young people, with youth unemployment (15-24) at 10.6% in the Hunter, just below the NSW rate of 10.9%. These rates are now close to a notional figure of around 4.5% for the ‘non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment’, or NAIRU. Unemployment rates far from the NAIRU are expected to influence wages growth and inflation; the recent move back towards the NAIRU points to a labour market that has come off its tightest point. Note that the values expressed here use a 3-month moving average.

Data source: ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed

Employment - Vacancies

Industry-level (SA4) employment reporting for the regions is currently on pause at the ABS - the latest detailed industry cut for the Hunter is only current to August 2025. In the interim, we draw on the Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) published by Jobs and Skills Australia, which tracks online job advertisements and gives a more timely read on labour demand in the region. The two views below show how vacancies in the Hunter are tracking relative to NSW and peer regions, and where demand for labour is growing or easing by profession. Data from Jobs and Skills Australia is for the “Newcastle and Hunter” region, which corresponds to the two Hunter SA4s of ‘Hunter Valley excluding Newcastle’ and ‘Newcastle and Lake Macquarie’, but excludes the Mid-Coast LGA which is classified in the Mid North Coast SA4 region.

The chart below indexes online job vacancies to 100 at January 2020, showing the increasingly higher vacancy rates in the Hunter and Illawarra compared to Sydney and Australian averages. There is thus a growing demand for labour in the region, outstripping main labour markets in Sydney and nationally.

The next chart shows the change in vacancies by occupation over the most recent 12 months, highlighting which professions are driving demand for labour in the region and which are softening.

Data source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index

The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.