6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2017 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/10/2017   
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LABOUR FORCE COMMENTARY SEPTEMBER 2017


NATIONAL ESTIMATES

TREND ESTIMATES

Australia's trend estimate of employment increased by 23,800 persons in September 2017, with:

  • the number of unemployed persons decreasing by 2,200 persons;
  • the unemployment rate remaining steady at 5.5 per cent, following a revised August 2017 estimate;
  • the participation rate increasing by less than 0.1 percentage points, but remaining at 65.2 per cent in rounded terms; and
  • the employment to population ratio increasing by 0.1 percentage points, but remaining at 61.6 per cent in rounded terms.

Over the past year, trend employment increased by 335,500 persons (or 2.8 per cent). Over the same 12 month period the trend employment to population ratio, which is a measure of how employed the population (aged 15 years and over) is, increased by 0.7 percentage points to 61.6 per cent, the highest it has been since August 2012.

In monthly terms, trend employment increased by 23,800 persons between August 2017 and September 2017. This represents an increase of 0.19 per cent, which is above the monthly average growth rate over the past 20 years of 0.16 per cent.

Trend full-time employment increased by 16,000 persons in September, while part-time employment also increased by 7,700 persons. Compared to a year ago, there are 271,400 more persons employed full-time and 64,100 more persons employed part time. The part-time share of employment decreased 0.3 percentage points over the last 6 months, from 31.9 per cent to 31.6 per cent.

The trend estimate of monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 3.1 million hours (or 0.18 per cent) in September 2017, to 1,714.5 million hours. Monthly hours worked have increased by 2.9 per cent over the past year, slightly above the estimate of employed persons. As a result, the average hours worked per employed person is around 139.6 hours per month, or around 33.2 hours per week.

The trend unemployment rate decreased by less than 0.1 percentage points, but remained at 5.5 per cent in rounded terms in September 2017 (after the August number was revised down to 5.5 per cent). This is the lowest the unemployment rate has been since March 2013. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 2,200, a seventh consecutive decrease.

The trend participation rate increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to remain at 65.2 per cent in rounded terms in September 2017. The male participation rate was 70.8 per cent while the female participation rate reached a record high of 59.9 per cent.

The labour force includes the total number of employed and unemployed persons. Over the past year, the labour force increased by 333,300 persons (2.6 per cent). This rate of increase was above the rate of increase for the total Civilian Population aged 15 years and over (323,500 persons, or 1.6 per cent).

The trend participation rate for 15-64 year olds, which controls (in part) for the effects of an ageing population, increased by 0.1 percentage points to 77.7 per cent in September 2017.

The trend participation rate for 15-24 year olds increased by 0.3 percentage points to 67.7 per cent in September 2017. The unemployment rate for this group decreased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 12.7 per cent in September 2017 and decreased by 0.3 percentage points over the year.

The trend series smooths the more volatile seasonally adjusted estimates and provide the best measure of the underlying behaviour of the labour market.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES

Seasonally adjusted employment increased by 19,800 persons from August to September 2017. The underlying composition of the net change was an increase of 6,100 persons in full-time employment and a 13,700 increase in part-time employment. Since September 2016, full-time employment has increased by 315,900 persons, while part-time employment has increased by 55,600 persons.

Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked in all jobs increased by 11.2 million hours in September 2017 to 1,718.2 million hours.

The seasonally adjusted employment to population ratio remained steady at 61.6 per cent in September 2017, representing an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the same time last year.

Graph 1, Employment to population ratio, Persons, September 2007 to September 2017
Graph: Graph 1, Employment to population ratio, Persons, September 2007 to September 2017


The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.5 per cent in September 2017. The labour force participation rate remained steady at 65.2 per cent.


STATE AND TERRITORY ESTIMATES

TREND ESTIMATES

In September 2017, increases in trend employment were observed in all states and territories except the Northern Territory where employment decreased by 800 persons. The largest increases were in New South Wales (up 7,600 persons) and Queensland (up 7,500 persons).

Similarly, over the past year, increases in employment were also observed in all states and territories except Northern Territory (down 3,200 persons). The largest increases were in Victoria (up 96,500 persons), Queensland (up 95,900 persons) and New South Wales (up 79,100 persons). The highest annual employment growth rates were in Queensland (4.1 per cent), Tasmania (3.9 per cent), Victoria (3.1 per cent) and Western Australia (2.9 per cent).

The largest increase in the trend unemployment rate was seen in the Northern Territory (up 0.2 percentage points). The largest decreases were recorded in South Australia (down 0.2 percentage points) and Queensland (down 0.1 percentage points).

The trend participation rate increased in all states and territories except the Northern Territory (down 0.3 percentage points) and South Australia (down 0.1 percentage points). The largest increase was in the Australian Capital Territory (up 0.2 percentage points), followed by New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, which all recorded increases of 0.1 percentage points.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES

In seasonally adjusted terms, the largest increase in employment was in New South Wales (up 21,100 persons), followed by Victoria (up 8,900 persons) and Western Australia (up 8,300 persons).

The largest increase in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was in Queensland (up 0.2 percentage points). The largest decrease in the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was recorded in New South Wales and Tasmania (both down 0.3 percentage points), followed by Western Australia (down 0.2 percentage points).

The largest increase in the seasonally adjusted participation rate occurred in Western Australia (up 0.2 percentage points), while the largest decreases in the seasonally adjusted participation rate were observed in Queensland and South Australia (both down 0.1 percentage points).

Seasonally adjusted estimates are not published for the two territories.

Table 1, Unemployment rate, States and Territories

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
August
September
August
September
%
%
%
%

New South Wales
4.8
4.8
4.9
4.6
Victoria
6.0
6.0
6.1
6.0
Queensland
6.0
5.9
5.7
5.9
South Australia
6.0
5.8
5.7
5.8
Western Australia
5.6
5.6
5.9
5.7
Tasmania
6.0
5.9
6.0
5.7
Northern Territory
3.9
4.1
np
np
Australian Capital Territory
4.4
4.4
np
np
Australia
5.5
5.5
5.6
5.5

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