6105.0 - Australian Labour Market Statistics, Jan 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/01/2005   
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LABOUR STATISTICS NEWS


EMPLOYEE EARNINGS AND HOURS

Preliminary results from the 2004 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours were released on 8 December via the ABS web site. This electronic publication (cat. no. 6305.0.55.001) replaces the printed publication (cat. no. 6305.0) released previously. The Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours collected information from a sample of employers about the earnings, hours paid for, method of setting pay, and other selected characteristics of their employees. Final estimates from the survey will be published in Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2004 (cat. no. 6306.0), expected to be released in March 2005.



LABOUR PRICE INDEX

From the September quarter 2004 issue, released on 17 November 2004, Wage Cost Index, Australia (cat. no. 6345.0) will be issued under the title Labour Price Index, Australia. The new name identifies the publication as one of the price indexes produced by the ABS, and also reflects the introduction of non-wage price indexes, in addition to the wage price indexes, and their aggregation into overall labour price indexes. For more information, see the spotlight on the Labour Price Index in this publication.



LABOUR THEME PAGE

The ABS Labour Theme Page provides a guide to the range of ABS statistics on the labour market, as well as links to the latest data released.



RELEASE OF UPDATES TO CONCEPTS SOURCES AND METHODS

Labour Statistics - Concepts, Sources and Methods has been updated further, to coincide with the release of results from the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. On December 8, the following chapters were updated: 2, 12, 24 and 26. Additional chapters will be updated in 2005 and these will be announced in subsequent issues of this publication.



IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER ASSISTED INTERVIEWING

Computer assisted interviewing (CAI) was progressively implemented into the Labour Force Survey (LFS) between October 2003 and August 2004. A Technical Report in this issue of Australian Labour Market Statistics outlines the analyses that were conducted on each month's data to monitor the implementation. These analyses confirmed that the change in interview method has not materially affected the aggregate estimates for any month.



SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEYS ON LABOUR TOPICS

The Monthly Population Survey comprises the Labour Force Survey and a range of supplementary surveys, which provide detailed information on a range of topics. Results from the survey on education and work were recently released in Education and Work, Australia (cat. no. 6227.0). The results of this survey are outlined in the Recent Release section of this publication.



ABS EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE

By subscribing to this free service, you will be kept informed via email of the latest releases of ABS products. To subscribe, follow the link from the ABS home page <https://www.abs.gov.au>, provide your email address, and select your topics of interest.



CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

This issue of Australian Labour Market Statistics reflects the renaming of the Wage Cost Index as the Wage Price Index (which is part of the broader Labour Price Index).


In addition to presenting participation rates for all persons aged 15 years and older, this issue presents participation rates for persons aged 15-64 years in the Key Measures table of the Labour Market Summary.

Recent and upcoming statistical releases

Release date/title of publication
Reference period
Catalogue number

December 2004
Education and Work, Australia
May 2004
6227.0
Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary
May 2004
6305.0.55.001
Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia
2002-03
6523.0
Industrial Disputes, Australia
September quarter 2004
6321.0.55.001
Labour Force, Australia
November 2004
6202.0
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery
November 2004
6291.0.55.001
Work in Selected Culture and Leisure Activities, Australia
April 2004
6281.0
January 2005
Australian Labour Market Statistics
January 2005
6105.0
Experimental Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, Taxation and Income Support Data
1995-96 to 2000-01
6524.0
Job Search Experience, Australia
July 2004
6222.0
Job Vacancies, Australia
November 2004
6354.0
Labour Force, Australia
December 2004
6202.0
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery
December 2004
6291.0.55.001
Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia
September quarter 2004
6248.0.55.001
Year Book Australia
2005
1301.0
February 2005
2006 Census of Population and Housing: Nature and Content
2006
2008.0
Average Weekly Earnings, Australia
November 2004
6302.0
Labour Force, Australia
January 2005
6202.0
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery
January 2005
6291.0.55.001
Labour Price Index, Australia
December quarter 2004
6345.0
March 2005
Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia
August 2004
6310.0
Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia
May 2004
6306.0
Industrial Disputes, Australia
December quarter 2004
6321.0.55.001
Information Paper: Labour Force Survey Standard Errors
2005
6298.0
Informing a Nation: the Evolution of the Australian Bureau of Statistics
2005
1382.0
Job Vacancies, Australia
February 2005
6354.0
Labour Force, Australia
February 2005
6202.0
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery
February 2005
6291.0.55.001
Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia
September 2004
6220.0
Underemployed Workers, Australia
September 2004
6265.0
Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia
December quarter 2004
6248.0.55.001
April 2005
Australian Labour Market Statistics
April 2005
6105.0
Characteristics of Small Businesses, Australia
2004
8127.0
Labour Force, Australia
March 2005
6202.0
Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery
March 2005
6291.0.55.001
Measures of Australia's Progress
April 2005
1370.0.55.001



NOTES

DATA CONTAINED IN THIS ISSUE

The statistics shown are the latest available at 6 January 2005. Data sources for the tables in this publication are listed in Appendix 1.



ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

The spreadsheets and data cubes referenced in this publication are available on the ABS web site at <https://www.abs.gov.au> [AusStats - Publications and Data], then [Data Cubes] or [Time Series Spreadsheets].



INQUIRIES

For information about other Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistics and services, please refer to the back of this publication.



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or the Assistant Director, Labour Market, on Canberra (02) 6252 7636.



LABOUR MARKET SUMMARY


KEY MEASURES

% change from
Measure
Series type
Period
Current figure
Previous quarter(a)
Previous year(b)

Employed
Persons'000
Trend
Nov 2004
9,770.7
0.8
2.5
Full-time'000
Trend
Nov 2004
6,995.1
0.6
2.5
Part-time'000
Trend
Nov 2004
2,775.6
1.2
2.3
Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment%
Trend
Nov 2004
28.4
(c)0.1
(c)-0.1
Unemployed
Persons'000
Trend
Nov 2004
548.6
-3.6
-6.5
Looking for full-time work'000
Trend
Nov 2004
384.5
-5.4
-10.5
Looking for part-time work'000
Trend
Nov 2004
164.1
1.0
4.5
Unemployment rate
Persons%
Trend
Nov 2004
5.3
(c)-0.2
(c)-0.5
Long-term unemployment
Persons'000
Trend
Nov 2004
109.9
-7.2
-11.4
As a proportion of total unemployment%
Trend
Nov 2004
20.0
(c)-0.8
(c)-1.1
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
Long-term unemployment rate%
Original
Sep 2003
1.3
na
(c)-0.1
Unemployment rate%
Original
Sep 2003
5.9
na
(c)-0.5
Underemployment rate%
Original
Sep 2003
5.6
na
(c)-0.2
Labour force underutilisation rate%
Original
Sep 2003
11.5
na
(c)-0.6
Extended labour force underutilisation rate%
Original
Sep 2003
12.5
na
(c)-0.7
Children living without an employed parent(e)%
Original
Jun 2004
17.2
na
(c)0.1
Labour force participation rate
Persons aged 15-64 years%
Original
Nov 2004
74.3
(c)0.8
(c)0.3
Total persons%
Trend
Nov 2004
63.7
(c)0.1
(c)0.3
Actual hours worked
Aggregate weekly hoursmill. hours
Original
Nov 2004
338.2
1.7
2.3
Average weekly hours - Personshours
Original
Nov 2004
34.6
-0.5
-0.4
Average weekly hours - Full-timehours
Original
Nov 2004
41.7
-0.5
-0.5
Average weekly hours - Part-timehours
Original
Nov 2004
16.5
-1.4
0.2
Part-time workers
Proportion who preferred to work more hours%
Original
Nov 2004
26.0
(c)-0.1
(c)-1.6
Wage price index
Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonusesindex no.
Trend
Sept qtr 2004
102.1
0.8
3.4
Average weekly earnings
Full-time adult ordinary time earnings$
Trend
Aug 2004
960.00
0.7
3.2
All employees total earnings$
Trend
Aug 2004
756.30
0.5
2.8
Compensation of employees
Household income account$m
Trend
Sept qtr 2004
98,314
1.5
6.2
Average earnings (National Accounts basis - nominal) per week$
Trend
Sept qtr 2004
883
0.5
2.8
Industrial disputes
Working days lost'000
Original
Sept qtr 2004
93.3
-39.5
-43.8
Working days lost per 1,000 employeesnumber
Original
Sept qtr 2004
11.3
-38.3
-44.5
Job vacancies
Australia'000
Trend
Aug 2004
124.7
4.1
20.0

na not available
(a) Same period previous quarter (monthly data is presented for the middle month of each quarter).
(b) Same period previous year.
(c) Change is in percentage points.
(d) See table 4.1 or the Glossary for further explanation of labour underutilisation rates.
(e) As a proportion of all children aged under 15 years. See the Explanatory Notes for information on family data.



EMPLOYMENT: TREND SERIES

Full-time and total employment
Graph: Trend full-time and total employment
Males and females
Graph: Trend employment for males and females




PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT: TREND SERIES
Proportion of total employment, Males
Graph: Trend male part-time employment as a proportion of total male employment
Proportion of total employment, Females
Graph: Trend female part-time employment as a proportion of total female employment




UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: TREND SERIES
Males and females
Graph: Trend unemployment rate for males and females




LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT: TREND SERIES
Proportion of total unemployment
Graph: Long-term unemployment as a proportion of total unemployment, males and females




UNDERUTILISED LABOUR
Labour underutilisation rates - 1994-2003
Graph: Labour underutilisation rates—1994–2003




PARTICIPATION RATE: TREND SERIES
Persons
Graph: Trend participation rate
Males
Graph: Trend participation rate of males
Females
Graph: Trend participation rate of females




WAGE PRICE INDEX: TREND SERIES
Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Quarterly change
Graph: Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses Quarterly change




AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS: TREND SERIES
Full-time adult ordinary time earnings, Quarterly change
Graph: Quarterly change in full-time adult ordinary time earnings
All employees total earnings, Level
Graph: All employees total earnings, level




INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES: ORIGINAL SERIES
Working days lost, Quarter ending
Graph: Working days lost Quarter ending




JOB VACANCIES: TREND SERIES
Job vacancies, By sector
Graph: Job vacancies by sector