Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

Rate the ABS website
ABS Home > Statistics > By Catalogue Number
1387.3 - Queensland in Review, 2003  
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/03/2004  Ceased
   Page tools: Print Print Page RSS Feed RSS Bookmark and Share Search this Product  
Contents >> Economic Characteristics of Population >> Employment >> Labour Force Participation Rate in Queensland (1985-2002)

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE TO JUNE 2002

The labour force participation rate is, for any group, the labour force expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 and over in the same group.

In June 2002, 64.9% of people aged 15 or over were either employed or actively looking for work. This increase on the participation rate of 60.4% in June 1985 resulted from an increasing participation rate by women.

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE, QUEENSLAND - Trend series


Source: Labour Force, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 6202.0)


Between June 1985 and June 2002, the percentage of working-age males in the labour force has shown a slight downward trend in Queensland. Varying between a high of 76.7% in December 1985 to the lowest point of 72.8% in December 2000, the male participation rate was 73.2% in June 2002.

The female participation rate has increased from 45.2% in June 1985 to 56.8% in June 2002.

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE, QUEENSLAND, Age-groups, June 1985


Source: Labour Force, Selected Summary Tables, Australia (cat. no. 6291.0.40.001)


LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE, QUEENSLAND, Age-groups, June 2002


Source: Labour Force, Selected Summary Tables, Australia (cat. no. 6291.0.40.001)


In June 1985 and June 2002, the participation rate for males and females aged 15-19 was approximately 63%.

For both June 1985 and June 2002, males over 20 show a high participation rate in the labour force of around 90%, until the decline to 75% for the age-group 55-59 years.

Since 1985, female participation rates increased in most age-groups, particularly for the age-groups 45-54 (from 49% to 74%) and 55-59 years (from 24% to 51%), indicating a significant change in life-experience for women. In June 2002, the participation rate for women was highest in the 20-24 year age-group, at 76.3%, and higher than 70% for all age-groups until the 55-59 age group.

Only 10% of men and 3% of women aged 65 or more were participating in the labour force.



Previous PageNext Page


Bookmark and Share. Opens in a new window

© Commonwealth of Australia 2013

Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.