The article looks at Australian unemployment over the past twenty years. It shows that the rise in unemployment was mainly due to more people looking for work than there were jobs available. In the 1970s, unemployment went up because labor costs increased. Since the 1980s, unemployment has stayed around the same level, going up and down with the economy. The natural rate of unemployment, which is the lowest rate possible without causing inflation, has been between 6 and 8 percent for the past fifteen years. Expectations about inflation have also affected how unemployment rates change.