6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, May 2014 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/06/2014   
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LABOUR FORCE COMMENTARY MAY 2014


NATIONAL ESTIMATES

Australia's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8% in May 2014 (seasonally adjusted), while in trend terms the unemployment rate was also steady at 5.9% in May 2014. The number of unemployed persons increased by 3,200 to 717,100 in May 2014 (seasonally adjusted), while in trend terms the number of unemployed persons in May 2014 fell by 2,200 to 719,700.

The seasonally adjusted underemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 7.6 per cent in May 2014. Combined with the unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent, the latest seasonally adjusted estimate of total labour force underutilisation remained steady at 13.5 per cent in May 2014. In trend terms, the underemployment rate decreased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 7.5 per cent in May 2014 and total labour force underutilisation was unchanged at 13.5 per cent.

May 2014 saw the seasonally adjusted participation rate decrease by 0.1 percentage points to 64.6%. The trend participation rate was unchanged at 64.7% in May 2014.

The seasonally adjusted number of employed persons decreased by 4,800 in May 2014 to 11,564,600 persons. In trend terms, employment increased by 13,100 persons to 11,573,100 persons in May 2014. The employment to population ratio, which expresses the number of employed persons as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over, decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 60.8% (seasonally adjusted). The trend employment to population ratio remained steady at 60.9%.

Employment to population ratio, Persons, December 2012 to May 2014
Graph: Employment to population ratio, Persons, December 2012 to May 2014


Seasonally adjusted full-time employment increased by 22,200 persons to 8,068,300 persons while part-time employment decreased by 27,000 persons in May 2014 to 3,496,200 persons. The decrease in total employment resulted from:
  • a decrease in male part-time employment, down 19,000 persons
  • a decrease in female part-time employment, down 8,000 persons
  • an increase in male full-time employment, up 5,900 persons
  • an increase in female full-time employment, up 16,300 persons.

Seasonally adjusted aggregate monthly hours worked increased by 26.5 million hours (1.7%) in May 2014 to 1,604.5 million hours.


STATE ESTIMATES

The largest absolute decreases in seasonally adjusted employment were in New South Wales (down 22,200 persons) and South Australia (down 4,500 persons). The largest absolute increases in seasonally adjusted employment were in Victoria (up 19,500 persons) and Western Australia (up 6,800 persons). Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for the territories.

Unemployment rate, State and Territories, April 2014 and May 2014

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
April
May
April
May
%
%
%
%

New South Wales
5.5
5.5
5.4
5.7
Victoria
6.4
6.3
6.4
6.2
Queensland
6.2
6.3
6.3
6.2
South Australia
6.7
6.7
6.2
6.8
Western Australia
5.1
5.1
4.9
5.0
Tasmania
7.5
7.5
7.6
7.5
Northern Territory
3.5
3.3
np
np
Australian Capital Territory
3.7
3.7
np
np
Australia
5.9
5.9
5.8
5.8

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated