MEDIA RELEASE
9 October 2014	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	146/2014
Australia's unemployment rate increased to 6.1 per cent in September 2014

Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 6.1 per cent in September 2014, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The seasonally adjusted labour force participation rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 64.5 per cent in September 2014.

The ABS reported the number of people employed decreased by 29,700 to 11,592,500 in September 2014 (seasonally adjusted). The decrease in employment was driven by decreased part-time employment for both females (down 31,600 persons) and males (down 19,700 persons). In trend terms the number of people employed increased by 5,600 in September 2014.

The ABS monthly seasonally adjusted aggregate hours worked series decreased in September 2014, down 15.0 million hours (0.9%) to 1,591.3 million hours.

The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed increased by 11,000 to 746,600 in September 2014, the ABS reported.

More details are in the September 2014 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming September 2014 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) due for release next week on October 16. These publications are available for free download (after release) from the ABS website - www.abs.gov.au.

Media note:

• Seasonal factors for July, August and September 2014 have been set to one (reflecting no seasonality) apart from the aggregate monthly hours worked series. This has resulted in revised seasonally adjusted and trend estimates for July and August. For further details refer to pages 4-7 of the September 2014 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).
• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• Media request and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070