6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Oct 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/11/2006   
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OCTOBER KEY FIGURES

Sep 2006
Oct 2006
Sep 06 to Oct 06
Oct 05 to Oct 06
Trend
Employed persons ('000)
10 272.1
10 287.4
15.2
2.6
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
510.4
505.6
-4.8
-6.9
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.7
4.7
0.0
pts
-0.5
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.9
65.0
0.0
pts
0.5
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
10 289.0
10 256.9
-32.1
2.5
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
513.4
497.2
-16.2
-10.2
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.8
4.6
-0.1
pts
-0.6
pts
Participation rate (%)
65.1
64.7
-0.4
pts
0.2
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate



OCTOBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,287,400
  • UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 505,600
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 4.7%
  • PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 65.0%


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT
  • decreased by 32,100 to 10,256,900. Full-time employment decreased by 48,600 to 7,306,200 and part-time employment increased by 16,600 to 2,950,800.

UNEMPLOYMENT
  • decreased by 16,200 to 497,200. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 4,800 to 355,000 and the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased by 11,400 to 142,200.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
  • decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6%. The male unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5% and the female unemployment rate remained at 4.8%.

PARTICIPATION RATE
  • decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 64.7%.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
November 2006 7 December 2006
December 2006 11 January 2007
January 2007 8 February 2007
February 2007 15 March 2007
March 2007 12 April 2007
April 2007 10 May 2007



CHANGES THIS MONTH

The ABS has introduced two new spreadsheets to the electronic product Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets (cat. no. 6202.0.55.001), which complement the data in this publication. These spreadsheets contain trend, seasonally adjusted and original estimates for persons aged 15 to 24 and 15 to 64 years. These new spreadsheets have been developed in response to increasing client interest in these age groups.



ROUNDING

Estimates of monthly change shown on the front cover have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.



SAMPLING ERRORS

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Because the entire population is not enumerated, the published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of this variability and appear on pages 27 and 28.


The 95% confidence intervals below provide another way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates from sample surveys. The interval bounded by the two limits is the 95% confidence interval. A 95% confidence interval has a 95% chance of including the true value of the estimate.

Movements in seasonally adjusted series between September and October 2006
Monthly change
95% Confidence interval
Total Employment
-32 100
-84 700
to
20 500
Total Unemployment
-16 200
-43 800
to
11 400
Unemployment rate
-0.1 pts
-0.3 pts
to
0.1 pts
Participation rate
-0.4 pts
-0.8 pts
to
0.0 pts


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Bjorn Jarvis on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.



PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,392,400 in October 1996 to 9,056,300 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,600 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,287,400 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed persons



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons generally fell from 763,300 in October 1996 to 583,800 in September 2000, before rising to 685,900 in October 2001. The trend then fell to 532,500 in January 2005, before rising to 549,100 in December 2005. Since then, the trend has fallen to stand at 505,600 in October 2006.

Graph: Unemployed persons



UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate generally fell from 8.3% in October 1996 to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend fell to 5.1% in July 2005. The trend rose slightly to 5.2% in December 2005, before falling to stand at 4.7% in October 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate



STATES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS


NEW SOUTH WALES

The trend estimate of employed persons in New South Wales rose from 2,810,700 in October 1996 to 2,825,600 in February 1997. After falling to 2,801,700 in July 1997, the trend rose steadily to 3,038,100 in August 2000. Apart from small decreases in late 2000 and early 2003, the trend has since generally risen to stand at 3,301,700 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons NSW



VICTORIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Victoria generally rose from 2,103,400 in October 1996 to 2,359,300 in February 2003. After falling to 2,346,000 in June 2003, the trend has generally risen to stand at 2,555,600 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons Vic



QUEENSLAND

The trend estimate of employed persons in Queensland rose steadily from 1,536,300 in October 1996 to 1,802,300 in April 2003. The trend has since risen more quickly to stand at 2,080,400 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons Qld



SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in South Australia remained relatively steady from 654,400 in October 1996 until July 1997, when it stood at 660,200. The trend estimate then fell to 639,600 in June 1998, before generally rising to stand at 759,900 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons SA



WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Western Australia generally rose from 849,200 in October 1996 to 986,800 in August 2004. The trend then increased rapidly for 13 months before returning to steadier growth. The trend now stands at 1,074,500 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons WA



TASMANIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Tasmania, although fluctuating, remained relatively steady from 199,600 in October 1996 until March 2002, when it stood at 197,900. The trend then rose steadily to 224,300 in January 2006, but has flattened since then to stand at 223,000 in October 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons Tas