6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Dec 2012 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/01/2013   
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MEDIA RELEASE
17 January 2013
Embargoed: 11.30 am Canberra Time
06/2013
Australia's unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.4 per cent in December 2012


Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 5.4 per cent in December, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The ABS reported the number of people employed decreased by 5,500 to 11,538,900 in December. The decrease in employment was driven by decreased full-time employment, down 13,800 people to 8,112,500 and was offset by increased part-time employment, up 8,300 people to 3,426,400. The increase in part-time employment was driven by an increase in male part-time employment.

The number of people unemployed increased by 16,600 people to 656,400 in December, the ABS reported.

The ABS monthly seasonally adjusted aggregate hours worked series showed a decrease in December, down 1.1 million hours to 1,623.5 million hours.

The ABS reported that the seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate remained steady at 65.1 per cent in December.

More details are contained in the December 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming December 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) due for release next week on January 24. These publications are available for free download (after release) 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.