6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Dec 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/01/2014   
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LABOUR FORCE COMMENTARY DECEMBER 2013


NATIONAL ESTIMATES

Australia's unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.8% in December 2013 (seasonally adjusted) when calculated using unrounded estimates, while in trend terms the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.8% in December 2013. The number of unemployed persons increased by 8,000 to 722,000 in December 2013 (seasonally adjusted), while in trend terms the number of unemployed persons in December 2013 rose by 1,500 to 716,000.

December 2013 saw the seasonally adjusted participation rate decrease by 0.2 percentage points to 64.6%. The trend participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 64.7% in December 2013 when calculated using unrounded estimates, following a revision to the November estimate.

The seasonally adjusted number of employed persons decreased by 22,600 in December 2013 to 11,629,500 persons. In trend terms, employment decreased by 600 persons to 11,636,600 persons in December 2013. The employment to population ratio, which expresses the number of employed persons as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over, decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 60.8% (seasonally adjusted). The trend employment to population ratio decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 60.9%

Employment to population ratio, Persons, July 2012 to December 2013
Graph: Employment to population ratio, Persons, July 2012 to December 2013


Seasonally adjusted full-time employment fell in December 2013, down 31,600 persons to 8,067,700 persons, while part-time employment increased by 9,000 persons to 3,561,800 persons. The decrease in total employment resulted from:
  • a decrease in female full-time employment, down 16,400 persons
  • a decrease in male full-time employment, down 15,100 persons
  • a decrease in male part-time employment, down 4,300 persons
  • an increase in female part-time employment, up 13,300 persons.

Seasonally adjusted aggregate hours increased by 0.6 million hours (0.0%) in December 2013 to 1,634.0 million hours.


STATE ESTIMATES

The largest absolute decrease in seasonally adjusted employment was in Victoria, down 12,600 persons, driven by a statistically significant decrease in full-time employment of 26,900 persons. The largest absolute increase in seasonally adjusted employment was in Western Australia, up 3,800 persons. Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for the territories.

Unemployment rate, State and Territories, November 2013 and December 2013

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
November
December
November
December
%
%
%
%

New South Wales
5.9
5.9
5.9
5.8
Victoria
6.1
6.2
6.2
6.2
Queensland
5.8
5.7
5.7
5.9
South Australia
6.7
6.7
6.8
6.7
Western Australia
4.5
4.5
4.3
4.7
Tasmania
7.8
7.7
7.7
7.7
Northern Territory
4.4
4.2
np
np
Australian Capital Territory
4.1
4.0
np
np
Australia
5.8
5.8
5.8
5.8

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated