6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Mar 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/04/2017   
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MARCH KEY FIGURES

Feb 2017
Mar 2017
Feb 17 to Mar 17
Mar 16 to Mar 17

Trend
Employed persons ('000)
12 016.9
12 033.4
16.5
1.0
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
743.7
749.5
5.8
3.4
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.8
5.9
0.0
pts
0.1
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.6
64.7
0.0
pts
-0.2
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
11 998.6
12 059.6
60.9
1.2
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
749.1
753.1
4.0
5.1
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.9
5.9
0.0
pts
0.2
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.6
64.8
0.2
pts
-0.1
pts


Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate
Graph: Unemployment Rate




MARCH KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
  • Employment increased 16,500 to 12,033,400.
  • Unemployment increased 5,800 to 749,500.
  • Unemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 5.9%.
  • Participation rate increased by less than 0.1 pts to 64.7%.
  • Monthly hours worked in all jobs decreased 0.4 million hours to 1,668.5 million hours.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
  • Employment increased 60,900 to 12,059,600. Full-time employment increased 74,500 to 8,238,600 and part-time employment decreased 13,600 to 3,821,000.
  • Unemployment increased 4,000 to 753,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 2,900 to 528,600 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work increased 1,100 to 224,500.
  • Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.9%.
  • Participation rate increased by 0.2 pts to 64.8%.
  • Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 3.2 million hours to 1,664.2 million hours.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
April 2017 18 May 2017
May 2017 15 June 2017
June 2017 20 July 2017
July 2017 17 August 2017
August 2017 14 September 2017
September 2017 19 October 2017



ANNUAL SEASONAL RE-ANALYSIS AND CHANGES TO SEASONAL FILTERS

The annual seasonal re-analysis of Labour Force series was conducted on estimates up to February 2017. As part of the 2017 re-analysis, the ABS has also reviewed the length of seasonal filters that are used in Labour Force series. The seasonally adjusted and trend estimates in this month's issue reflect minor adjustments made as a result of this annual review process (for more information see page 8).


ROUNDING

Estimates of changes shown on the front cover and used in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movement obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.


SAMPLING ERROR

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Published estimates and movements are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of sampling variability. The interval bounded by two standard errors is the 95% confidence interval, which provides a way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates. There is a 95% chance that the true value of the estimate lies within that interval.

MOVEMENTS IN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED SERIES BETWEEN FEBRUARY 2017 AND MARCH 2017

Monthly change
95% Confidence interval

Total Employment
60 900
2 100
to
119 700
Total Unemployment
4 000
-35 800
to
43 800
Unemployment rate
0.0 pts
-0.4 pts
to
0.4 pts
Participation rate
0.2 pts
-0.2 pts
to
0.6 pts




INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.