LABOUR FORCE


CONTENTS

Employed persons

Unemployment

Participation rate


EMPLOYED PERSONS

In trend terms, the total number of persons employed in South Australia in August 2008 was 781,200, an increase of 600 from the number of persons employed in July 2008 (780,600). The total number of persons employed in Australia in August 2008 was 10,734,900, an increase of 8,100 on the number employed in July 2008 (10,726,800).

The number of males employed full-time in South Australia in August 2008 was 361,300 (in trend terms), an increase from 359,900 in July 2008. The number of females employed full-time in South Australia in August 2008 was 181,300 (in trend terms), a decrease from 182,200 in July 2008.


UNEMPLOYMENT

The trend estimate unemployment rate for South Australia dropped slightly to 4.6% in August 2008, down from 4.7% in July 2008. Australia's unemployment rate remained unchanged from July 2008 to August 2008 at 4.2%.

For South Australia, the trend unemployment rate for males dropped slightly from 4.5% in July 2008 to 4.4% for August 2008. The trend unemployment rate for females remained unchanged from July 2008 to August 2008 at 4.9%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

The trend estimate of the participation rate for South Australia in August 2008 was 63.0%, unchanged from July 2008. Australia's trend participation rate dropped slightly from 65.3% in July 2008 to 65.2% for August 2008.

For South Australia, the trend participation rate for males remained steady at 70.4% in August 2008. The Australian participation rate for males has been consistently higher than that for South Australia, and was down slightly to 72.3% in August 2008 from 72.4% in July 2008. The participation rate for South Australian females dropped slightly from 55.9% in July 2008 to 55.8% in August 2008. The Australian female participation rate remained steady over this period at 58.3%.