6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, May 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/06/2015   
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MEDIA RELEASE
11 June 2015
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
71/2015

Australia's unemployment rate decreased to 6.0 per cent in May 2015
Australia's estimated seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2015 was 6.0 per cent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points (based on unrounded estimates) from a revised 6.1 per cent for April 2015. In trend terms, the unemployment rate decreased less than 0.1 percentage points to 6.0 per cent, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate was unchanged at 64.7 per cent in May 2015 from a revised April estimate.

The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 42,000 to 11,759,600 in May 2015 (seasonally adjusted). The increase in employment was driven by increases in part-time employment for females (up 29,800) and full-time employment for males (up 15,900).

The ABS seasonally adjusted aggregate monthly hours worked series increased in May 2015, up 2.2 million hours (0.1 per cent) to 1,631.8 million hours.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed decreased by 22,000 to 745,200 in May 2015. This was driven by unemployed people who looked for full-time work, which decreased by 23,500 to 514,500.

The seasonally adjusted underemployment rate was 8.5 per cent in May 2015, unchanged from February 2015. Combined with the unemployment rate of 6.0 per cent, the latest seasonally adjusted estimate of total labour force underutilisation was 14.5 per cent in May 2015, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points from February 2015.

More details are in the May 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming May 2015 issues of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) and Labour Force, Australia, Quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003) due for release on 18 June. These publications are available for free download (after release) from the ABS website - https://www.abs.gov.au.

Media note:
  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.