6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Nov 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/12/2013   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

LABOUR FORCE COMMENTARY NOVEMBER 2013


NATIONAL ESTIMATES

Australia's unemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 5.8% in November 2013 (seasonally adjusted) when calculated using unrounded estimates, while in trend terms the unemployment rate also increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 5.8% following a revision to the October estimate. The number of unemployed persons increased by 3,400 to 712,500 in November 2013 (seasonally adjusted), while in trend terms the number of unemployed persons in November 2013 rose by 900 to 710,700.

The seasonally adjusted underemployment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 7.6 per cent in November 2013. Combined with the unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent, the latest seasonally adjusted estimate of total labour force underutilisation decreased 0.3 percentage points to 13.4 per cent in November. In trend terms, the underemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 7.8 per cent in November 2013 and total labour force underutilisation increased 0.3 percentage points to 13.7 per cent.

November 2013 saw the seasonally adjusted participation rate remain steady at 64.8%. The trend participation rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 64.8% in November 2013 when calculated using unrounded estimates.

The seasonally adjusted number of employed persons increased by 21,000 in November 2013 to 11,659,900 persons. In trend terms, employment increased by 1,800 persons to 11,645,500 persons in November 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, remained steady at 61.1% (seasonally adjusted). The trend employment to population ratio decreased 0.1 percentage points to 61.0%.

Employment to population ratio, Persons, June 2012 to November 2013
Graph: Employment to population ratio, Persons, June 2012 to November 2013


Seasonally adjusted full-time employment rose in November 2013, up 15,500 persons to 8,107,900 persons, while part-time employment increased by 5,500 persons to 3,552,000 persons. The increase in total employment resulted from:
  • an increase in male full-time employment, up 21,500 persons
  • an increase in female part-time employment, up 13,700 persons
  • a decrease in male part-time employment, down 8,200 persons
  • a decrease in female full-time employment, down 6,000 persons.

Seasonally adjusted aggregate hours decreased by 11.7 million hours (0.7%) in November 2013 to 1,634.4 million hours.


STATE ESTIMATES

The largest absolute increase in seasonally adjusted employment was in Queensland, up 4,700 persons. The largest absolute decreases in seasonally adjusted employment were in Western Australia (down 2,700 persons) and Victoria (down 2,600 persons). Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for the territories.

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

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
October
November
October
November
%
%
%
%

New South Wales
5.8
5.9
5.9
5.9
Victoria
6.0
6.1
6.0
6.2
Queensland
5.8
5.7
5.9
5.6
South Australia
6.6
6.6
6.6
6.8
Western Australia
4.4
4.4
4.3
4.3
Tasmania
8.0
7.9
7.8
7.8
Northern Territory
4.9
4.7
np
np
Australian Capital Territory
4.2
4.2
np
np
Australia
5.7
5.8
5.7
5.8

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