6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, May 2010 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 10/06/2010   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

MEDIA RELEASE

June 10, 2010
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
70/2010


Australia's unemployment rate at 5.2 per cent in May 2010 (seasonally adjusted): ABS

The Australian unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, decreased from 5.4 per cent in April to 5.2 per cent in May, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 26,900 people to 11.057 million, seasonally adjusted, in May. The rise in employment was driven by an increase in full-time employment, up 36,400 people to 7.780 million that was offset by a fall in part-time employment, down 9,400 people to 3.277 million. This was the ninth consecutive month Australia has seen a rise in the number of people employed full-time.

The ABS reported the number of people unemployed decreased 25,400 people to 600,900 in May, seasonally adjusted.

The ABS seasonally adjusted monthly aggregate hours worked series showed an increase in May, up 43.9 million hours to 1,574.5 million hours.

The ABS reported the seasonally adjusted participation rate in May decreased 0.2 pt to 65.1 per cent.

The ABS seasonally adjusted labour force underutilisation rate was 12.2 per cent in May, down 0.5 percentage points from February 2010.

More details are available in the May 2010 release of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) available for free download from the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>

Media Note: When reporting ABS data the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source