1360.0 - Measuring Australia's Economy, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 03/02/2003   
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Contents >> Section 7. Labour Force and Demography >> Employed Persons by Industry

Despite a break in series arising from changes to coding techniques in February 2000, over the period since August 1992 the trend in Manufacturing employment remained effectively flat. While Business services and Community services experienced relatively strong rates of growth in employment since 1992, Trade and Other industries grew at a somewhat slower rate.





EMPLOYED PERSONS BY SELECTED INDUSTRY(a)
Period
Agriculture, forestry,
and fishing

’000
Manufacturing

’000
Trade(b)

’000
Business
services(c)

’000
Community
services(d)

’000
Other
industries(e)

’000
TREND (AUGUST)
1996
420.1
1122.4
2132.5
1701.9
1268.2
1713.0
1997
432.9
1139.9
2122.4
1730.4
1328.8
1652.1
1998
414.6
1095.6
2195.3
1811.1
1369.3
1707.4
1999
436.4
1072.8
2280.9
1846.2
1369.2
1784.0
2000
438.1
1150.5
2239.9
1992.4
1419.9
1820.3
QUARTERLY (TREND)
2000–2001
May
429.6
1113.8
2245.8
2026.2
1477.5
1818.6
2001–2002
August
441.1
1100.9
2263.5
1993.9
1494.8
1850.7
November
446.1
1092.8
2287.2
1969.5
1499.5
1886.8
February
435.3
1098.5
2302.7
1972.8
1513.8
1907.7
May
418.6
1110.4
2311.4
1988.1
1539.2
1914.4
2002–03
August
402.8
1123.9
2315.9
2008.0
1569.1
1915.4
(a) Data for February 2000 onwards are not strictly comparable with earlier periods.
(b)Trade includes Wholesale trade; Retail trade; and Accommodation, cafes and restaurants.
(c) Business services includes Transport and storage; Communication services; Finance and insurance; and Property and business services.
(d) Community services includes Health and community services; Cultural and recreational services; and Personal and other services.
(e) Other industries includes Mining; Electricity, gas and water supply; Construction, Government administration and defence; and Education.

Source: Labour Force, Australia (6203.0).


Explanatory Notes

In the Labour Force Survey, for each employed person's main job, the kind of industry, business or service carried out by that person's employer is collected and classified to industry according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC).

New coding techniques introduced in February 2000 resulted in a break in series for Labour Force Survey data classified by industry. The estimated difference in estimates from the old to the new method varied markedly in size and in statistical significance at the ANZSIC industry division level. For example, under the new coding method, employment in Wholesale trade was estimated to be 13% lower, the greatest difference in percentage terms. A significant proportion of responses previously coded to Wholesale trade were coded to Manufacturing and to Retail trade by the new method. There were also significant movements between Manufacturing and Retail trade, resulting in a 5% increase for Manufacturing and a 2% decline in Retail trade.

Estimates of employed persons classified by industry (together with estimates of unemployed persons by industry of employer in previous job) provide insights into changes in the economy for labour market and industry policy planning.

Information on employment in specific industries is also collected in a number of annual or periodic censuses or surveys of those particular industries. Estimates from business surveys relate to jobs in paid employment, in contrast to the Labour Force Survey measure of persons currently employed.

Further Reading

Labour Force, Australia (6203.0)
Monthly. Estimates of employment, unemployment, unemployment rate and labour force participation rate, classified by State and Territory, State capital city, sex, age, school and tertiary attendance, full-time/part-time, duration of unemployment, country of birth and year of arrival in Australia, industry and occupation. On the ABS web site, see Statistics - Employment and unemployment.

Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (6306.0)
Biennial. Provides statistics on the composition and distribution of earnings and hours of employees, and how their pay is set.

Also see the Labour Force Framework reading list.



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