The Jobs quadrant provides data on the number of jobs, both filled and vacant. Estimates from business surveys are balanced with estimates from household surveys.

The concept of a “job” is central to the Australian Labour Account. It is the mechanism through which people engage in production.

The Oxford English Dictionary has multiple meanings for the word, one of which approximates the concept as it is applied in the Australian Labour Account and the 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) – “a task or piece of work, especially one that is paid”.

The 2008 SNA does not explicitly define a job. Rather, it observes the agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job, and each self-employed person has a job (2008 SNA, 19.30). In application, a self-employed person is both the employer and employee. A job is position held by a person that involves work, duties or responsibilities; it may or may not provide returns of compensation or benefits to the individual.

As the dictionary definition implies, not all jobs are paid, either in money or in kind. People can be engaged in productive economic activity within an institutional unit for no apparent reward, in which case they are contributing to output but receiving no compensation. The 2008 SNA concept of a job includes these people as volunteer labour (2008 SNA, 19.39).

Jobs are created by enterprises. In the case of the self-employed person, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines these jobs as those where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential for profits) derived from the goods and services produced (where own consumption is considered to be part of profits). The incumbents make the operational decisions affecting the enterprise, or delegate such decisions while retaining responsibility for the welfare of the enterprise. In this context, "enterprise" includes one person operations.

In summary, and in the context of the Australian Labour Account, a job is a set of production related tasks that can be assigned to and undertaken by a person, and for which they are usually, but not necessarily, remunerated either in money or in kind.

Production related tasks are constrained to economic activity within the 2008 SNA production boundary, and jobs are created and maintained by institutional units (Type of Activity Units within Enterprise Groups in the Australian context).

The Australian Labour Account includes all jobs created and maintained by institutional units (that is, households, legal entities and social entities) resident in Australian economic territory, involving economic activity within the Australian application of the 2008 SNA production boundary.

Estimates of movements in the number of jobs in the economy provide a measure of labour market performance and capacity.

Jobs can be classified according to:

• inherent job characteristics (e.g. whether the job is full-time or part-time),
• characteristics of the person holding the job (e.g. whether the job is filled by a self-employed person or an employee), or
• characteristics of the enterprise creating the job (e.g. the industry or institutional sector to which the job relates).

In the Australian context, self-employment according to the ILO definition is not separately identified. Rather, jobs are distinguished according to the status in employment categories of the people filling the job.

These categories include:

• Employee;
• Owner manager of incorporated enterprise with employees;
• Owner manager of incorporated enterprise without employees;
• Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise with employees;
• Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise without employees; and
• Contributing family workers.

The closest approximation to the ILO concept of self-employment in the Australian context is the aggregation of the four “owner manager” status in employment categories.

Employees

Employees are those employed persons who do not operate their own incorporated or unincorporated enterprise. An employee works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, on a commission basis (with or without a retainer), tips, piece rates, or payment in kind.

Owner managers of incorporated enterprises

An owner manager of an incorporated enterprise is a person who operates his or her own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as limited liability company).

An owner manager of an incorporated enterprise (an OMIE) may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Owner managers of unincorporated enterprises

In the Australian Labour Account, own-account workers and employers employed in their own enterprises are referred to as Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises (OMUEs). OMUEs are persons who operate their own unincorporated enterprise, or engage independently in a profession or trade. An owner manager of an unincorporated enterprise may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Contributing family workers

A contributing family worker is a person who works without pay in an economic enterprise operated by a relative. Contributing family workers, including those working without pay in unincorporated enterprises engaged wholly or partly in market production, are also treated as self-employed (2008 SNA, 7.30b).

The ILO defines a contributing family worker as a person who holds a self-employment job in an enterprise operated by a related person, and who cannot be regarded as a partner because the degree of his or her commitment to the operation of the enterprise, in terms of the working time or other factors to be determined by national circumstances, is not at a level comparable with that of the head of the establishment.

Internationally the concept is restricted to those living in the same household, however Australia has not applied the same criteria of cohabitation in its implementation. For example, an adult child who makes unpaid contributions of labour to a family business operated by their parents, and does not live in the same household as the parents, is still considered to be a contributing family worker.

Own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (such as subsistence farming or do-it-yourself construction of own dwellings), are considered employed according to the definition of employment adopted by Thirteenth International Convention of Labour Statisticians (ICLS). Households producing unpaid domestic or personal services (e.g., housework, caring for family members) for their own final consumption are excluded, as such activities fall outside the 2008 SNA production boundary and are not considered employment.

Jobs which are in and out of scope of the Australian Labour Account are summarised in the table below.

The number of jobs in the economy exceeds the number of persons employed, to the extent that some employed persons have more than one job in the same period. An individual with more than one job may do these successively, as when the person works for part of the week in one job and the rest of the week in another, or in parallel, as when the person has an evening job as well as a daytime job. In addition, the number of jobs in the economy may be reduced when compared to the number of persons employed in instances of formal job sharing arrangements.

Employers may not be aware of, and in any case are not asked to provide information on, secondary jobs undertaken by their employees. When employers supply information on the number of employees, they actually provide information on the number of jobs they hold. This is because the same employee would be reported separately by each employer. The distinction between the number of jobs and the number of employed persons is one issue that is informed by the Australian Labour Account.

The Australian Labour Account recognises this difference by accounting for multiple job holding, and reports the number of jobs in the Jobs quadrant and employed persons in the Persons quadrant. However, the Australian Labour Account does not compile estimates of formal job sharing, as there is currently no available data source to measure this, and it is particularly unlikely to be reported accurately by businesses.

The statistics derived from the Labour Force Survey are designed to produce estimates of the number of people engaged in economic activity. The statistics derived from ABS business surveys count the number of jobs in which people are employed. For example, a person holding multiple jobs with different employers would be counted once in ABS household surveys as an employed person, but in ABS business surveys would be counted multiple times, once by each employer for each job that they held.

A number of examples illustrate this:

• if an unemployed person became employed full-time (by starting one full-time job), then the full-time employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would increase by one (in a business survey, or a 'filled jobs' count, this would lead to an increase in the filled jobs estimate by one);
• if an unemployed person became employed full-time (by starting two part-time jobs with a total of 35 hours of work or more per week), then the full-time employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would increase by one (however, in a business survey, or a 'filled jobs' count, this would lead to an increase in the filled jobs estimate by two);
• if a person who was already employed in one part-time job took on another part-time job, this would have differing impacts on the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey depending on the total number of hours worked: if the sum of hours worked in the two part-time jobs was fewer than 35 hours per week, the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey would remain unchanged, but if the sum of hours worked was 35 hours or more, the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey would show a decrease of one in part-time employment and an increase of one in full-time employment (however, in both cases this would lead to an increase of one in the filled jobs estimate from a business survey);
• if a person who was employed in three part-time jobs (working a total of more than 35 hours per week) resigned from these and assumed one full-time job, this would have no impact on the employment estimates from the Labour Force Survey (however, this would lead to a decrease of two in the filled jobs estimate - the number of part-time filled jobs would decrease by three while the number of full-time filled jobs would increase by one); and
• if a person employed in two part-time jobs became unemployed, the employment estimate from the Labour Force Survey would decrease by one (however, this would lead to a decrease of two in the filled jobs estimate from a business survey).

The Proportion of Secondary Jobs presents the number of secondary jobs as a proportion of the total number of filled jobs for each industry and the total economy. This measure provides insight into the relative number of secondary jobs in each industry, and enables comparison across industries and with each industry to an economy wide average.

The development of the Australian Labour Account has made it possible to produce an important new labour market measure – the Proportion of Vacant Jobs (PVJ).

The PVJ provides a useful labour demand-side view of relative labour demand, at the industry level, presenting the relationship between unmet demand (job vacancies) and met demand (filled jobs) within the Australian Labour Account.

The PVJ is calculated as the number of vacant jobs as a proportion of total jobs. This derived measure is a function of filled jobs and job vacancies. By bringing together met demand and unmet demand, the PVJ provides new insights into changes in the labour market.

In addition to providing insights into cyclical labour demand and employment, changes in the PVJ over time can also highlight that some of the following may be occurring:

• Changing employment capacity – there may be indications that the industry is nearing its full employment potential or, conversely, that there is the possibility of future employment growth;
• Job churn – the industry may not be maintaining long term employment, resulting in a high number of job vacancies without long term growth in employment;
• Skill mismatch – current availability of skills may not be able to satisfy employer requirements, resulting in an extended search for appropriately skilled staff; and/or
• Changing employment conditions or arrangements - the industry may be transitioning from full-time to part-time roles, or a greater use of contractors or use of labour hire firms.

Understanding changes in the PVJ (and analysing the underlying factors contributing to these changes) will enable Australia to better understand its labour market.

Numbers of filled jobs, from the business sources side, are sourced from the following ABS data:

• Quarterly estimates of private sector jobs are estimated from underlying data from the Quarterly Business Indicators Survey (QBIS), from Business Indicators, Australia.
• Quarterly estimates of private sector jobs for out of scope ANZSIC Divisions in QBIS are estimated from the Economic Activity Survey (EAS), published in Australian Industry for ANZSIC Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) and Division O (Public Administration and Safety), using quarterly Compensation of Employees as a quarterly indicator series; and
• Quarterly data for the public sector are estimated using underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE), from Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, using quarterly public sector Compensation of Employees as a quarterly indicator series.

Business survey data are supplemented by ABS business register information, defence force information, child workers information and estimates from the ABS Labour Force Survey for contributing family workers.

The number of filled jobs, from the household survey side, is the aggregate of the number of main jobs and secondary jobs, less jobs with formal job sharing arrangements. Estimates for main jobs and secondary jobs are sourced from underlying data from Labour Force, Australia. Survey based data are supplemented with defence force information, child workers information, information on non-residents working in Australia, and Australian residents living in Australia employed by overseas companies/business entities to account for survey scope restrictions. There is no information currently available on the number of jobs with formal job sharing arrangements.

Numbers of job vacancies are sourced from Job Vacancies, Australia. Data from the Internet Vacancy Index, published by the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, are used to supplement ABS survey data for the out of scope ANZSIC Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing).

The table below summarises data sources used in compiling quarterly and industry estimates of jobs.

The number of annual filled jobs, from both the business and household side, and the number of annual job vacancies, are compiled from the same data sources as the quarterly estimates.

The Jobs quadrant provides data on the number of jobs (filled and vacant) as at the end of the quarter. Job statistics are compiled for each ANZSIC industry subdivision and division, and for the economy as a whole. Unless otherwise stated, the methods described apply to both levels of aggregation.

Total jobs is the sum of filled jobs, plus job vacancies.

Filled jobs (business sources)

The number of filled jobs, from the business sources side, is equivalent to the number of people employed in enterprises resident in the Australian Economic Territory and engaged in economic activity within the scope of the National Accounts production boundary. People counted include employees, working proprietors and partners, employees absent on paid or prepaid leave, employees on workers' compensation who continue to be paid through the payroll, and contract workers paid through the payroll.

Filled jobs (business sources), for each quarter, is estimated by aggregating:

• For the private sector, the number of employees as at the end of each quarter, sourced from the annual Economic Activity Survey (EAS) and published in Australian Industry;
• For the public sector, the number of employees as at the end of each quarter, derived using underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE). Public sector SEE data used in the Australian Labour Account exclude units in the non-financial and financial sectors, as they are also in scope of the EAS; and
• Quarterly estimates of underlying Quarterly Business Indicator Survey (QBIS) data from Business Indicators, Australia to represent private sector employment in ANZSIC Division K (Finance and Insurance Services), which is out of scope of the EAS.

These three surveys cover most of the ANZSIC industries, except for:

• Class 6310 Life Insurance;
• Class 6330 Superannuation Funds; and
• Class 7600 Defence.

Units in ANZSIC Class 6330 Superannuation Funds are funds set up to provide retirement benefits. Conceptually they are considered to be non-employing units, and therefore would not contribute to Australian Labour Account estimates. As such, no estimate for employment in this industry has been included.

Scope adjustments are made for the following sectors and populations:

Add:

• The number of persons employed (at the end of each quarter) in ANZSIC Class 6310 (Life Insurance), sourced from underlying data from the ABS Business Register. This industry is not included in the EAS or QBIS.
• The number of persons employed in the permanent defence forces as at the end of each quarter, sourced from underlying ABS National Accounts data. Defence force personnel fall outside the scope of the SEE. All defence force personnel in Class 7600 (Defence) are assumed to work in the Public Administration and Safety industry (ANZSIC Division O).
• The number of unpaid contributing family workers for the quarter, sourced from the Labour Force Survey and published in Labour Force, Australia, as unpaid employees are out of scope of ABS business surveys.
• An estimate of the number of child workers (persons aged 5 to 14) who are self-employed, working on a farm, or as a contributing family worker. These data are sourced from ABS household survey data, using underlying data from Child Employment, Australia, 2006. Population estimates from Australian Demographic Statistics are used to extrapolate the number of child workers from the 2006 benchmark level, by assuming that the proportion of the age group working has not changed. Industry proportions are based on underlying Labour Force Survey data on employed persons aged 15 years old. No adjustments are made for child workers who are employees, as these persons are in scope of both EAS and QBIS.

Deduct:

• The number of persons engaged in ANZSIC subdivision 28 Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage (Employment and Earnings, Public Sector, Australia) as this subdivision is included in the Australian Industry. ABS Business Register data are available from June 2007. For earlier time periods, the movement in filled jobs for the Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services industry is applied.

Calculation of filled jobs (business sources) by industry

Data derived from an annual survey are generally considered to be of higher quality than quarterly data due to the larger sample sizes, and are generally subject to less volatility than quarterly run surveys. Annual source data provide overall levels, known as annual benchmarks, from which quarterly estimates are compiled. This ensures consistency between the quarterly and annual labour accounts.

For all ANZSIC industry divisions except A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing); K (Financial and Insurance Services) and O (Public Administration and Safety), a mathematical technique (the modified Proportional Denton Method) is used to benchmark quarterly stocks of private sector jobs reported in QBIS to annual data from EAS. This ensures the benchmarked quarterly levels are identical each June quarter, while maintaining the observed quarterly pattern from QBIS as much as possible.

For the most recent quarters, for which EAS year-end data are not available, the previous year-end EAS numbers are extrapolated, also using the modified Proportional Denton Method. Extrapolated data are calculated for up to 6 quarters, due to the 18 month lag in the delivery of EAS data.

For Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) and Division O (Public Administration and Safety), for which QBIS data are not available, EAS estimates of the number of jobs is used as an annual benchmark, with quarterly Compensation of Employees used as a quarterly indicator series.

For Division K (Finance and Insurance Services) for which EAS data are not available, employment data reported in QBIS are used directly as the quarterly estimate of private sector job holding.

To calculate the number of public sector filled jobs, underlying data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings (SEE) are used as an annual benchmark, with quarterly public sector Compensation of Employees used as a quarterly indicator series.

EAS data are not available on a consistent industry classification prior to 2009-10. For time periods prior to June 2010, filled jobs as measured from business sources are derived as follows: 

• From December quarter 2001 to June quarter 2010: seasonally adjusted movements in Compensation of Employees (which have been price deflated using the Wage Price Index), are applied to the June 2010 level.
• From September quarter 1994 to December quarter 2001, movements in the number of employees from Wage and Salary Earners, Australia are applied to the December 2001 level. These data relate to both the public and private sectors for each industry division except for Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing), which is limited to the public sector only. Applying movements from the Agriculture industry based on the public sector data produces large movements, given the small level associated with the indicator series. Movements from the Transport and storage industry are instead used as a proxy, given the strong links in production and supply chains between agriculture and transport. As the data are also on a historical industry classification basis, conversion factors based on employees from the Labour Force Survey are applied to approximate the current industry classification.

Filled jobs (household sources)

The number of filled jobs, from the household side, is equal to the number of people employed in main jobs and secondary jobs sourced from the household Labour Force Survey.

Filled jobs (household sources), for each quarter, is estimated by aggregating:

• The number of main jobs reported in the end of quarter reference month (i.e. March, June, September and December) in the household Labour Force Survey and published in Labour Force Australia, and
• The number of secondary jobs reported in the end of quarter reference month in the household Labour Force Survey.

The following scope adjustments are made:

Add:

• The number of persons employed in the permanent defence forces as at the end of each quarter, to the estimate of main jobs. Defence force personnel are not included in the Labour Force Survey, and these data are sourced from underlying ABS National Accounts data. All defence force personnel are assumed to work in ANZSIC Division O (Public Administration and Safety). Permanent defence force personnel are also assumed to work solely in their main job and not have multiple jobs.
• An estimate of the number of child job holders who are aged between 5 to 14 years as at the end of each quarter, to the estimate of main jobs. It is assumed that child workers do not hold secondary jobs. The estimate covers all child workers, regardless of employment status, as all children less than 15 years of age are excluded from the scope of the Labour Force Survey. The estimate is derived from data collected in the 2006 household survey Child Employment, Australia, 2006. Population estimates from Australian Demographic Statistics have been used to extrapolate the number of child workers from the 2006 benchmark level, by assuming the proportion of children in the 5-14 year age cohort who work has remained the same as that recorded in 2006. Industry allocations are based on underlying Labour Force Survey data on the industry of employment of 15 year old persons.
• An estimate of the number of main jobs held by non-resident visitors to Australia employed by Australian resident enterprises to the estimate of main jobs (see Non-resident visitors section below).
• An estimate of the number of secondary jobs held by non-resident visitors employed by Australian resident enterprises to the number of secondary jobs.

Non-resident visitors

Time periods from March 2006 onwards

The Labour Force Survey excludes from its scope non-resident visitors who intend spending less than 12 months in Australia, some of whom are employed during their stay by Australian resident enterprises. As non-resident visitors are included in the scope of business surveys (EAS and QBIS), only household side labour force data are adjusted to include non-resident visitors who are employed.

Data are sourced from short term visitor arrivals statistics from Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia and overseas migration data from Overseas migration. Data are obtained for the number of short term visitors who are present in Australia at the end of the reference quarter but who are not included in the Estimated Resident Population. Of interest are those people who have entered the country with a visa that includes working rights. Information on the main reason for journey is also collected. These visa classes and reasons for journey are detailed below.

Visa classes are aggregated into three main groups: short term visitors (students); short term visitors (sponsored visa holders); and short term visitors (other).

To estimate the number of main jobs held by students who short term visitors, the quarterly average employment rate of resident persons attending tertiary education, obtained from the Labour Force Survey, is multiplied by the estimated number of short term student visa holders. The Labour Force Survey data used in the calculation of employed short term students is limited to those persons aged 15-24 years old, who are currently undertaking full-time tertiary education. The method assumes that similar employment rates apply to short term visitors on student visas as for full-time Australian resident tertiary students, and that all short term student visa holders are in the labour force (either employed or unemployed).

To estimate the number of main jobs held by other short term visitors, the quarterly average employment rate for all residents is multiplied by the number of visa holders (other than sponsored visa holders) with working rights. This method assumes that all temporary entrants with a visa that had working rights (other than 400, 457 and 482 visa holders) were in the labour force (either employed or unemployed), and that similar rates of employment for this group apply when compared with the resident population

To estimate the number of main jobs held by short term visitors who are sponsored visa holders, the total number of short term arrivals with this type of visa is used. As these visa types require that the holder remains employed for the duration of the visa, an employment rate of 100% is assumed.

To estimate the number of secondary jobs held by other non-resident short-term visitors, the estimated number of non-resident main job holders (excluding students and sponsored visa holders) is multiplied by the proportion of resident employed persons who hold multiple jobs sourced from the Labour Force Survey. Students and sponsored visa holders are assumed to only hold main jobs, due to the restrictions associated with these types of visa. This method assumes that the same proportion of short term visitors hold multiple jobs as for the resident employed population.

There is a time lag in the estimation of Net Overseas Migration (NOM) data. Consequently, estimates of short term visitors for the latest quarters are extrapolated by applying movements in Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) data to estimates of NOM. The movements are applied after matching visa codes and reasons for journey between the NOM and OAD series.

Time periods from September 1994 to December 2005 

OAD and NOM data with both visa type and reason for journey are not available for the entire time series of the Australian Labour Account. For earlier time periods, the following data are available:

• NOM data classified by reason for journey by visa type is available from March 2006
• OAD data classified by reason for journey by visa type is available from September 2004
• OAD data classified by reason for journey only is available from September 1993.

As with the current end of the NOM series, estimates for the periods prior to March 2006 are modelled from OAD data by applying movements with matching visa codes and reasons for journey category to the estimates of March 2006.

The resulting series are aggregated to students, non-students and sponsored visa holders in the same way as for the rest of the time series.

Disaggregation to industry

Jobs held by short term visitors are disaggregated to industry in the following ways:

• Main jobs held by short term visitors (students) are disaggregated to industry using an underlying Labour Force Survey series of persons aged 15-24 attending full-time educational institutions.
• For main jobs held by other short term visitors, underlying data from Labour Force Survey supplementary surveys which approximates tenuous employment, namely part-time employment with no leave entitlements, are used.
• For main jobs held by short term visitors (sponsored visa holders), data from the Department of Home Affairs on the industry of the employer sponsoring the visa are used to distribute the total to industry division. Division level totals are further disaggregated to subdivision, using the tenuous employment data described above. Data from the Department of Home Affairs are not available prior to the 2005-06 financial year. For time periods prior to this, 2005-06 industry proportions are assumed to apply. 
• Data for short term visitors on “working holiday visas” (417 and 462) is distributed to industry using published information on employers of these visa types from the Australian Taxation Office.
• For secondary jobs held by sponsored visa holders) is assumed to apply. 

Deduct:

• the number of jobs held by Australian residents living in Australia employed by non-resident enterprises, sourced from underlying Balance of Payments data. As most of the people involved are employed by agencies of foreign governments (consulates, embassies etc.), the deductions are made from ANZSIC subdivision 75 (Public Administration) within Division O (Public Administration and Safety). Although the Labour Force Survey would include people over the age of 15 years in this category, they are not contributing to economic activity within Australian economic territory as measured in the Australian National Accounts.

Calculation of filled jobs (household sources) by industry

The Labour Force Survey collects quarterly data on the industry of the main job held by employed persons. For each employed person, it also collects the number of secondary jobs held (second, third, fourth or more). The Labour Force Survey does not record the industry of secondary jobs. To calculate the number of filled jobs and people employed at an industry level requires the allocation of each secondary job to an industry.

This is done in the Australian Labour Account by first obtaining the total number of multiple job holders and the number of second, third and fourth jobs from the Labour Force Survey. Employed persons who indicate they hold more than four jobs are assumed to hold only four jobs, as no further information on the number of jobs actually held is available. At this stage of compilation, multiple job holders and second, third and fourth jobs are classified by the industry of main job for each employed person.

Data from the ABS Linked Employer Employee Dataset (LEED) are then used to determine the proportions of the industry of employment of second, third and fourth jobs for multiple job holders, and applied to industry of main job Labour Force Survey data. These proportions are extracted as at the end date for each quarter from the LEED, and are updated as new data points become available. Industry proportions from the earliest available LEED are applied to earlier time periods in the Australian Labour Account, and similarly the latest available proportions are applied to subsequent time periods where necessary.

Where relevant, data are sourced from information collected in the Labour Force Survey in the last month of the relevant quarter, and apportioned across the industries using the related quarterly labour force industry data. For example, estimates in the September quarter Australian Labour Account are sourced from September month Labour Force data, which are then distributed across industry divisions from the industry distribution of quarterly data captured in the August Labour Force Survey published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly.

Sector of Filled Jobs

One commonly used sector classification in labour statistics is the public and private sector classification. In this classification, the public sector includes all government units, such as government departments, non-market non-profit institutions that are controlled and mainly financed by government, and corporations and quasi-corporations that are controlled by government. The private sector refers to enterprises that are not controlled by Commonwealth, state/territory or local governments (that is, any enterprise that is not part of the public sector).

The Australian Labour Account publishes estimates of private and public sector filled jobs. These are compiled by applying proportions from business sources (with data from the Economic Activity Survey representing the private sector, and data from the Survey of Employment and Earnings representing the public sector) to balanced numbers of filled jobs for each industry.

Job sharing

There is currently no household side information available on the number of jobs with job sharing arrangements. As a result, the total number of filled jobs is equivalent to the sum of reported main jobs and secondary jobs, plus scope adjustments. As with the business side, shared jobs on the household side would be counted as many times as there are people engaged in such arrangements.

Annual jobs methods

The Jobs quadrant contains stock data, which are data that measure certain attributes at a point in time. To determine an annual estimate of jobs in this quadrant, an average level is derived using a simple arithmetic average of the four quarterly estimates. Refer to Labour Account Methods for an example of this method.

The annual estimate of jobs is an approximate estimate of the number of jobs at any point in time during the year.

A job vacancy is a job available for immediate filling on the survey reference date and for which recruitment action has been taken. Recruitment action includes efforts to fill vacancies by advertising, by on site or online notices, by notifying employment agencies or trade unions and by contacting, interviewing or selecting applicants already registered with the enterprise or organisation.

Estimates of job vacancies exclude:

• jobs not available for immediate filling on the survey reference date;
• jobs for which no recruitment action has been taken;
• jobs which became vacant on the survey date and were filled on the same day;
• jobs of less than one day's duration;
• jobs only available to be filled by internal applicants within an organisation;
• jobs to be filled by employees returning from paid or unpaid leave or after industrial disputes;
• vacancies for work to be carried out by contractors; and
• jobs for which a person has been appointed but has not yet commenced duty.

Total quarterly job vacancies are calculated as:

• the sum of the number of vacant positions reported in the ABS Job Vacancies Survey for the relevant quarterly reference date/month (3rd Friday of February, May, August and November) and published in Job Vacancies, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6354.0); plus
• the number of job advertisements from the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Internet Vacancy Index (as at the 1st day of the third month of the reference quarter; i.e. 1 March, 1 June, 1 September, 1 December), for the following Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) occupation codes: 12 Farmers and Managers; 36 Skilled Animal and Horticultural Workers; and 84 Farm, Forestry and Garden Workers.

Internet Vacancy Index data are added to capture vacancies available in employing enterprises primarily engaged in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, which are out of scope of the quarterly ABS Job Vacancies Survey.

Industry detail at the ANZSIC subdivision level is not available directly from either the ABS Job Vacancies Survey or the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Internet Vacancy Index, and is modelled in the Australian Labour Account using the following methods:

• For subdivisions within Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing), information from the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Internet Vacancy Index for agricultural occupations at four digit ANZSCO level are aggregated to approximate these ANZSIC subdivisions; and
• For all remaining subdivisions, ANZSIC division level information from the Job Vacancies Survey is disaggregated to subdivision level using data from the Labour Force Survey relating to employees by subdivision (excluding Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises).

Data from the ABS Job Vacancies Survey are available on the current ANZSIC 2006 industry classification from November 2009 onwards, and data on an ANZSIC 1993 basis and the total number of job vacancies are available for earlier time periods. Data for each ANZSIC 2006 industry division for earlier time periods are estimated by applying a concordance between the ANZSIC 1993 and ANZSIC 2006 industry classifications. The known total number of job vacancies is maintained using this approach. Data at the industry division level are then distributed to industry subdivision by applying proportions from the LFS employees (excluding Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises) series.

The Job Vacancies Survey was suspended for five periods between August 2008 and August 2009 inclusive, as a result of a series of cuts to the ABS forward work program. The ABS has used econometric modelling techniques using a full-time equivalent flow series to estimate total job vacancies for the missing period. It should be noted that the modelled data are not part of the Job Vacancies Survey series and are not available in the related publication or the Australian Labour Account. However, modelled data for the gap period have been used in the production of seasonally adjusted and trend time series data.

Job vacancies for each industry for the period September 2008 and September 2009 have been estimated by applying the movement from the LFS number of employees (excluding Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises) to subdivision level job vacancies data on an ANZSIC 2006 basis from December 2009. These industry estimates are constrained to the modelled total number of job vacancies for this period.

Data from the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business are available from January 2006 onwards. Data for earlier time periods are estimated by applying the movement in the number of employees (excluding Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises) for each Agriculture subdivision from the LFS to the 2006 level.

The Persons quadrant provides statistics on employed people, people looking for and available for employment (unemployed people), and underemployed people.

The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of usual residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality, citizenship or legal status, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomatic personnel and their families.

The Australian Labour Account uses a practical application of the ‘12/16’ rule to establish usual resident status for non-resident visa holders with working rights. A person is regarded as a usual resident if they have been (or expect to be) residing in Australia for a period of 12 months or more. This 12 month period does not have to be continuous and is measured over a 16 month period. For more information on the ‘12/16 month rule’ methodology, see the Technical Note in Migration, Australia, 2008-09.

The scope of the population in the Australian Labour Account includes all persons who contribute to Australian economic activity, irrespective of age.

Labour statistics represented in the Persons quadrant are mostly sourced from estimates calculated from the monthly Labour Force Survey. Data from the monthly Labour Force Survey are released in two stages: Labour Force, Australia, and Labour Force, Australia, Detailed. Labour Force Survey data are supplemented with defence force information, child workers information and information on non-residents. 

Data from the ABS Linked Employer Employee Dataset (LEED) are used to determine industry of employment of secondary job holders, and applied to Labour Force Survey data to calculate total jobs in each industry. This information is used to adjust the Labour Force Survey estimate of employed persons in each industry, by excluding multiple job holding within the same industry from the total number of filled jobs.

The table below summarises data sources used in compiling quarterly and industry estimates of persons.

The same source data are used in compiling annual estimates in the Persons quadrant.

The Persons quadrant provides data on the number of employed, unemployed and underemployed persons for each quarter. Persons statistics are compiled for all industries (at both the division and subdivision level) and for the economy as a whole. Unless otherwise stated, the methods described apply to both levels of aggregation.

Similar adjustments to those made in compiling the Jobs quadrant are made to adjust the employed persons estimate from the Labour Force Survey to align with 2008 SNA production and residence concepts. These include calculating estimates for:

• permanent defence force personnel;
• employed persons under 15 years of age (child workers);
• non-residents employed in Australia by Australian businesses; and
• Australian residents employed working overseas.

At an industry level, similar assumptions are made with respect to multiple job holding for these groups as for employed persons generally, with the exception of the following groups:

• permanent defence forces, whose employment conditions are presumed to exclude secondary jobs;
• short term arrival students and sponsored visa holders are assumed to only hold main jobs, due to the restrictions associated with these types of visa; and
• employed children under 15 years, who are also assumed to not hold secondary jobs.

Please refer to the Jobs Quadrant Methods for more detail regarding these adjustments.

Similar to the Jobs quadrant, the Persons quadrant, where relevant, uses data sourced from information collected in the Labour Force Survey in the last month of the relevant quarter, and apportions this across the industries using the related quarterly labour force industry data. For example, estimates in the September quarter labour account are sourced from September month Labour Force data, which are then distributed across industry divisions from the industry distribution of quarterly data captured in the August Labour Force Survey published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed.

At an industry level, the number of employed persons is the sum of those holding main jobs in the industry, plus those holding secondary jobs after adjusting for double counting (i.e. for persons holding multiple jobs in the same industry). The Labour Force Survey captures data quarterly on the industry of the main job held by employed persons. For each employed person, it also records the number of secondary jobs held (second, third, fourth or more). The Labour Force Survey does not record the industry of secondary jobs.

Data from the ABS Linked Employer Employee Dataset (LEED) are then used to determine the proportions of the industry of employment of second, third and fourth jobs for multiple job holders, and applied to industry of main job Labour Force Survey data. These proportions are used to allocate the relevant quarterly Labour Force Survey secondary job holdings to each industry, to estimate the total number of filled jobs in each industry.

These proportions are extracted as at the end date for each quarter from the LEED, and are updated as new data points become available. Industry proportions from the earliest available LEED are applied to earlier time periods in the Australian Labour Account, and similarly the latest available proportions are applied to subsequent time periods where necessary.

To estimate the number of people employed in each industry, instances where the industry of second job is the same as the industry of main job are identified. These jobs are removed to derive a count of the number of additional people employed in each industry, and added to LFS main job data. 

The Labour Force Survey provides an estimate of employed persons in each industry of main job. The Australian Labour Account produces the total number of people employed in each industry from an industry perspective. As a result, the sum of employed persons in the Australian Labour Account across industry divisions does not equal the total number of people employed in the whole economy. 

The purpose of adjusting the Labour Force Survey number of people employed in each industry of main job is to provide information on the total number of people employed in each industry in a time series. This could be used to assess training programs or policy changes targeting a particular industry, to provide a more realistic picture of the number of people who may be impacted by any such change. 

The Labour Force Survey identifies multiple job holders as employed persons who, during the reference week, worked in more than one job and that was not the result of changing jobs. Multiple job holding is the main reason why estimates of employment from the Labour Force Survey cannot be equated to estimates of jobs. Also, under the Labour Force Survey, industry classification for multiple job holders is based on main job, with this main industry identified using hours actually worked.

In the Linked Employer Employee Dataset (LEED), multiple job holders are persons who have two or more concurrent jobs at any point during the financial year. Industry information is available for each individual job.

The Australian Labour Account incorporates both Labour Force Survey and LEED data, and can use this information to provide data on the number of multiple job holders. This is distinct from the number of secondary jobs for each industry, which is presented in the Jobs quadrant.

Estimates of multiple job holders in the Australian Labour Account are compiled by applying proportions from business/ administrative data sources (the LEED) to balanced numbers of main jobs for each industry, while controlling to the proportion of multiple job holding at the total economy level taken from the Labour Force Survey. 

The Persons quadrant includes additional related estimates at both total economy and industry levels for:

• Unemployed Persons;
• Underemployed Persons;
• Underutilised Persons; and
• Persons not in the Labour Force (total economy only).

It should be noted that industry estimates for the unemployed population are based on industry of last job worked (within the past two years) from the Labour Force Survey, and do not necessarily equate to the industries in which the unemployed are currently seeking work, nor do they include those who have never held a job previously. As such, care should be exercised when interpreting estimates of unemployed persons (and therefore underutilised persons and the total labour force) on an industry basis.

The Persons quadrant contains stock data, which are data that measure certain attributes at a point in time. To determine an annual estimate of persons in this quadrant, an average level is derived using a simple arithmetic average of the four quarterly estimates. Refer to Labour Account Methods for an example of this method.

The annual estimate of employed persons is an approximate estimate of the number of persons employed at any point in time during the year.

The Hours (Labour Volume) quadrant describes the relationship between the hours of labour that are supplied by individuals, and the hours of labour that are used or demanded by businesses. These data have a direct link to Australian National Accounts and productivity statistics.

Labour volume is expressed as hours worked, and has been defined in International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions in terms of the time when (paid) employees were at the disposal of an employer; that is, when available to receive work orders from an employer or person in authority, with hours worked covering all jobs. During such periods of availability, workers are expected to be ready to work if work is possible, requested or necessary. This general concept is made meaningful for the self-employed if it is taken to mean time when the self-employed are available to do their work, such as being at the disposal of clients, ready to receive purchase orders or available to make sales, etc. Further information is available in the ILO Resolution concerning the measurement of working time (Eighteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians, 2008).

Measuring the levels and trends of hours worked for different groups of employed persons is important in order to monitor working and living conditions, as well as analysing economic cycles. Information on hours of work enables various analytical insights such as: classification of employed persons into full-time and part-time status; the identification of underemployed persons; and the creation of aggregate monthly hours worked estimates. The general notion of hours of work encompasses a number of related concepts: hours usually worked; hours actually worked; hours paid for; and normal hours of work. 

Hours usually worked is the typical number of hours worked in a job for a short reference period (such as one week) that is representative of a longer reference period (e.g. a month, quarter, season or year). Usual hours may differ from actual hours worked at a given time if employed persons are away from work due to illness, vacation, strike, a change of job or other reasons, or are at work for more hours than normal due to overtime, extra shifts and so on (ILO, Surveys of Economically Active Population, Ch.5).

International resolutions relating to actual hours worked adopted by the Eighteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in 2008 refer to wage and salaried employees. There are no international recommendations relating to actual hours worked for all categories of the employed population. However the ILO, in its manual Surveys of Economically Active Population, Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment, suggests that actual hours worked in a given job should be defined to cover all types of employment in labour force surveys. Hours actually worked is the time spent in a job for the performance of activities that contribute to the production of goods and services during a specified short or long reference period.

According to the ILO resolution, actual hours of work measured within the 2008 SNA production boundary includes all time spent directly on, and in relation to, productive activities; down time; and resting time such as: 

• time spent in addition to hours worked during normal periods of work (including overtime);
• time spent at the place of work on activities such as the preparation of the workplace, repairs and maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, and the preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports;
• time spent at the place of work waiting or standing by due to machinery or process breakdown, accident, lack of supplies or power or internet access, etc.; and
• time corresponding to short rest periods (resting time) including tea and coffee breaks or prayer breaks.

Excluded are:

• hours paid for but not worked such as paid annual leave, public holidays or paid sick leave;
• meal breaks; and
• in respect of paid employment, time spent on travel to and from work when no productive activity for the job is performed (even when paid by the employer).

Monthly hours worked in all jobs is a measure of the total number of hours worked by employed persons in a calendar month. Monthly hours worked in all jobs are modelled estimates.

Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked in all jobs estimates are produced by combining two series.

The first series is the seasonally adjusted actual hours worked in the reference week, adjusted for holiday timing. These estimates provide an indication of movements across months. 

The second series is an annual benchmark series containing original estimates of actual hours worked in each financial year. The annual actual hours worked original estimates are calculated by determining the actual hours worked for each week of the financial year. As actual hours worked are only collected in respect of the reference week of the Labour Force Survey, actual hours worked for weeks not covered by the Labour Force Survey are imputed based on the actual hours worked for the adjacent reference weeks. The imputation accounts for, amongst other things, the effect of public holidays on hours worked; that is, it accounts for holidays that occur in the reference week of the Labour Force Survey as well as holidays that occur in weeks other than the reference week. 

These two series are then combined to produce the seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked in all jobs series. A trend series is also subsequently produced. This approach ensures that: 

• The level of the monthly hours worked in all jobs (seasonally adjusted) series is consistent with the level of the annual benchmarks; and
• The movements in the series are consistent with the movements in the seasonally adjusted actual hours worked in the reference week series.

Estimates of monthly hours worked in all jobs are available from the Labour Force Survey. For more information on monthly hours worked in all jobs, refer to Information Paper: Expansion of Hours Worked Estimates from the Labour Force Survey.

Hours paid for applies to a paid-employment job and to a self-employment job paid on the basis of time units. For a paid-employment job, hours paid for is the time for which payment has been received from the employer (at normal rates, in cash or in kind) during a specified short or long reference period, regardless of whether the hours were actually worked or not.

Hours paid for:

• includes time paid but not worked such as paid annual leave, paid public holidays and certain absences such as paid sick leave; and
• excludes time worked but not paid by the employer, such as unpaid overtime, and absences that are not paid by the employer, such as unpaid educational leave or maternity leave that is paid through transfers by government from social security systems.

As such, hours paid for will differ from the number of hours actually worked if an employee works more or less hours than their paid hours. Hours paid for will also differ from usual hours in some cases, for example if an employee performs long hours in some weeks to have rostered days or weeks off.

Measures of hours paid for are collected from business payroll records in the ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH). The EEH also collects information on the following components:

• ordinary time hours paid for - defined as the award, standard or agreed hours of work paid for at the ordinary rate. Ordinary hours paid for include: stand-by or reporting time hours, which are part of standard hours of work, and hours of paid annual leave, paid sick leave and long service leave taken during the reference period (ASNA, 23.167). Ordinary time hours paid for at penalty rates (e.g. for shift work) are not converted to their ordinary time equivalent; and
• overtime hours paid for - defined as hours paid for in excess of award, standard or agreed hours of work, at both standard and penalty rates.

Applying the concept in practice, the Australian Labour Account makes no estimate for hours paid and not worked, or hours worked but not paid for, as this is currently a known data gap.

Normal hours of work is defined in a 2008 ICLS resolution as ‘the hours fixed by or in pursuance of laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards to be performed in specified paid-employment jobs over a specified reference period, such as per day, week, month or year (within the 2008 SNA production boundary). Normal hours of work may also apply to a job in self-employment when the hours are in accordance with the hours fixed for all jobs in a specific industry or occupation (such as for drivers to ensure public safety)’ (ICLS 2008, 13(1)).

Measures of normal hours of work are not produced by the ABS. However, the concept is used to assist in allocating respondents in the full-time/part-time status classification in ABS business surveys.

All statistics used to populate the Labour Volume quadrant are derived based on calculations involving the average weekly hours paid for rate sourced from underlying data from the publication Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia. The Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH) is conducted every two years.

No adjustments have been made to the average weekly hours paid for rate, as the necessary adjustments to correct for survey data scope limitations are included in the filled jobs estimate used in the calculations to derive hours paid for estimates. See the Jobs section for an explanation of the scope adjustments made to filled jobs estimates.

The number of hours actually worked, on the household side, is sourced from underlying data from Labour Force, Australia. The Australian National Accounts uses the same underlying source data to derive a quarterly hours actually worked estimate, while also including an estimate for hours worked by defence force personnel. The same adjustment for defence hours is used in the Australian Labour Account, ensuring consistency across both accounts, as well as creating a direct link to the labour productivity statistics published in the Australian System of National Accounts.

For the Australian Labour Account, the hours actually worked data are further adjusted for the number of hours worked by child workers, non-residents living in Australia employed by Australian companies, and Australian residents living in Australia employed by overseas companies.

The number of hours sought by unemployed persons is sourced from Labour Force, Australia, Detailed from 2014 onwards. For earlier periods, a derived average number of hours sought per unemployed person is applied to the relevant number of unemployed people. A similar methodology is applied to derive the number of additional hours sought by underemployed persons.

The table below summarises data sources used in compiling quarterly estimates in the hours quadrant.

Source data for the annual estimates of labour volume are the same as those described above for quarterly estimates.

Hours actually worked

Hours actually worked are collected in the Labour Force Survey. Respondents report the hours worked in their main job and the hours worked in all their jobs in the survey reference week. The aggregate number of hours worked by all employed persons in all jobs (including secondary employment) and main jobs, classified by industry of main job, is calculated for the reference week.

Hours actually worked during the reference week are used to derive modelled estimates of total hours worked by industry of main job across a quarter. The results are published in Labour Force, Australia, and are combined with an estimate of hours worked by permanent defence personnel in the hours actually worked series published in quarterly Australian National Accounts data.

In the hours worked series published in Labour Force, Australia and quarterly Australian National Accounts data, hours worked are allocated to industry on the basis of an employed persons industry of main job. The Australian Labour Account, while maintaining consistency with the total number of hours worked published in Labour Force, Australia, reallocates hours worked among industries to account for instances of secondary job holding.

Permanent defence force personnel hours are sourced from quarterly Australian National Accounts data and are allocated to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) subdivision 76 (Defence) within Public Administration and Safety (Division O), as conditions of employment assume that secondary jobs are not allowed.

There is no single source of information to determine the industry allocation of hours worked in secondary jobs. Estimates of hours worked in secondary jobs by industry of secondary job are determined by combining information form the Labour Force Survey (LFS), and the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED). The method used is detailed below:

Step 1: The aggregate hours worked estimates from the LFS are apportioned between hours worked in main jobs and hours worked in secondary jobs, based on LFS estimates of hours actually worked in the reference week of the mid-quarter month. The calculations are performed by industry subdivision of main job, so produce final estimates of hours worked in main job. However, the industry classification of hours worked in secondary jobs is still determined by the industry of main job.

Step 2: The industry classification of those hours worked in secondary jobs is then rederived by the industry of secondary job according to the following process:

• Take the total hours worked in secondary jobs from step 1. As noted, these series are available by industry of main job.
• For each industry of main job m, take the hours worked in secondary jobs (by workers whose main job is in industry m) and multiply it by the proportion of job holders who hold a secondary job in industry s, to get an estimate of hours worked in secondary jobs in industry s by workers whose main job is in industry m. These proportions are taken from the LEED.
• Sum the values from step 2b to get estimates of all hours worked in secondary jobs by industry of secondary job.

The exception to the above is for estimates of hours worked by permanent defence force personnel, which are sourced from quarterly Australian National Accounts data. All hours worked by those personnel are allocated to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) subdivision 76 (Defence) within Public Administration and Safety (Division O), as conditions of employment assume that secondary jobs are not allowed.

Scope adjustments

Hours actually worked in all jobs derived from the Labour Force Survey are adjusted to align with the production and residency boundaries of the Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA) by including estimates of hours worked by child workers, non-residents living in Australia employed by Australian resident enterprises and members of the permanent defence forces, and excluding hours worked by Australian residents employed by non-resident enterprises. The estimated numbers of jobs held by persons in each category are taken from the Jobs quadrant.

Estimates for the number of hours actually worked by non-residents living in Australia employed by Australian resident enterprises are based on visa type. For short term students, the number of hours is capped at twenty hours per week as this is a work condition of student visas during university/school semesters. For other short term arrivals (excluding students), an average hours actually worked per job is estimated at half (50%) of the hours actually worked by the general resident population. While half is a crude estimate, it is assumed that non-residents would work less than the average hours worked by residents, to account for a holidaying component of their trip to Australia. Quarterly hours actually worked by Australian residents living in Australia employed by non-resident enterprises are also based on the quarterly average hours worked per job estimates.

Hours worked by child workers are derived based on data from the 2006 Survey of Child Workers. Quarterly hours actually worked by child workers are calculated by multiplying the relevant quarterly estimate of employed children by the average number of hours worked from the 2006 Survey of Child Workers.

Hours worked by permanent defence force personnel are not specifically adjusted for in the Australian Labour Account, as the underlying Australian National Accounts estimates used in the Australian Labour Account include an adjustment for hours worked by permanent defence personnel. The Australian National Accounts estimate of hours worked assumes that permanent defence personnel work the same number of hours in their jobs as average hours worked in main jobs by the general population.

Hours worked by the adjusted scope populations are allocated to industry as described in the table below.

Hours sought but not worked are estimated by aggregating hours sought by the unemployed and additional hours preferred by the underemployed. Hours sought by unemployed persons are the hours unemployed persons could work if they were employed. Additional hours preferred by underemployed persons are the potential hours of employed people that are not fully utilised. It includes people employed part-time who want to and are available to work more hours, as well as people employed full-time who worked part-time hours in the survey reference week for economic reasons.

Both series are sourced from Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly. Input data from the Labour Force Survey are not available prior to 2014. For earlier time periods, an average hours sought based on data from 2014 to 2017 is multiplied by the number of unemployed and underemployed persons. Data are further multiplied by 13 to derive a quarterly estimate from the weekly data representative of the Labour Force Survey reference week.

It should be noted that industry estimates for the unemployed population (and therefore the hours sought by those unemployed persons) are based on industry of last job worked (within the past two years) from the Labour Force Survey. This does not necessarily equate to the industries in which unemployed persons are currently seeking work, nor do they include those who have never held a job previously. Similarly, it is assumed that any additional hours sought by the underemployed are sought in the same industry as the main job of each underemployed person. As such, care should be exercised when interpreting estimates of hours sought on an industry basis.

No adjustments have been made to align the Labour Force Survey hours sought with the ASNA residency and production boundaries, as there is no reliable information to derive estimates of additional hours of work sought by short term working visa holders. It is also assumed that defence force personnel and child workers are fully employed.

Available hours of labour supply are the total number of hours for which people in the labour force are prepared to make themselves available for work. It is the sum of hours actually worked in all jobs, including adjustments for scope, and hours sought but not worked.

Total hours paid for, at both an industry and total economy level, is calculated by adding quarterly estimates of ordinary and overtime hours paid. In addition, ordinary time hours paid is calculated separately for Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises to other Status in Employment types.

Hours paid for – Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises

To calculate hours paid for Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises, it is assumed that hours paid for in this group are equivalent to the number of hours actually worked, as they would generally have no entitlement to any form of paid leave.

As such, the total number of hours paid for Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises are calculated for each industry by taking the average number of hours actually worked in the reference week by this group from the Labour Force Survey, and multiplying the weekly average by the number of Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises in that industry. The result is then further multiplied by 13 weeks to derive a quarterly estimate. These figures, estimated at an industry level, are summed to produce a ‘whole of economy’ total.

Hours paid for – Other Status in Employment types

In calculating hours paid for other Status in Employment types, average weekly ordinary time hours paid and average weekly overtime hours paid for each industry are derived from underlying data from the EEH. To calculate both overtime and ordinary hours paid for, average weekly measures are multiplied by the number of filled jobs in each industry, less Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises. The filled jobs data are taken from the Jobs quadrant, while the number of Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises is taken from the Persons quadrant. As the survey data reflects a ‘typical week’, quarterly estimates of total ordinary and overtime hours paid for are derived by multiplying the average weekly data by 13 weeks. Similar to the hours paid for Owner Managers of Unincorporated Enterprises, figures estimated at an industry level are summed to produce a ‘whole of economy’ total.

Prior to 2014, the two average weekly hours series for ordinary time hours paid and paid overtime were only available for non-managerial employees (refer to Labour Payments Concepts for a definition). From the 2014 release of the publication Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6306.0), these series are available for all employees, which includes managerial employees where there is a link between pay and hours worked. The all employees series are used in Australian Labour Account hours paid for estimates where available. Internal analysis conducted during the development of the Australian Labour Account showed that the all employees series did not differ noticeably from the non-managerial employees series, therefore no adjustments have been made for scope for years prior to 2014.

In addition, as the EEH is a biennial survey, average weekly hours paid data for years where EEH survey data are not available are estimated as the average of the two neighbouring years. For example, average weekly hours paid data for 2013 are calculated as the average of EEH data for 2012 and 2014. EEH data are also not available on the current industry classification basis prior to 2008. Data for earlier time periods have been estimated by matching current and historical industry classifications, as much as possible, at the industry subdivision level.

As Division A is out of scope of the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, the calculation of hours paid for the Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Industry (ANZSIC Division A) applies the average hours paid for Division I (Transport, Postal and Warehousing).

As all data contained in the Labour Volume quadrant are flow data, which represent a measure of activity over a given period, data across time periods are additive. Therefore, annual data in the Labour Volume quadrant are derived as the sum of the four quarterly estimates.

It should be noted that the Labour Volume quadrant includes derived measures such as Average hours worked per job and Average hours worked per Labour Account employed person. These are calculated using a flow as the numerator (e.g. Hours actually worked), divided by a stock for the denominator (e.g. Filled jobs). Where these data are presented in annual terms, caution must be exercised when comparing this result with other estimates measured at the same point in time. These data are intended for comparison across time and industries within the Australian Labour Account, and to provide a link between the Jobs and Labour Volume quadrants.

The Labour Payments quadrant accounts for the costs incurred by enterprises in employing labour and the incomes received by people from its provision.

The conceptual framework for statistical measures of employee remuneration in Australia (in the context of the broader concept of labour costs) are discussed in the Earnings chapter. The narrowest concept outlined in the international guidelines is that of 'Earnings'. Concepts of 'Wages and salaries', 'Employee income', 'Compensation of Employees' and 'Labour costs' all include and extend upon the concept of 'Earnings'.

The statistical measure of labour costs is based on the concept of labour as a cost to the employer and relates to:

• all cash and in-kind payments of wage and salaries to employees;
• all contributions by employers in respect of their employees to social security, private pension, casualty insurance, life insurance and similar schemes; and
• all other costs borne by employers in the employment of labour that are not related to employee compensation (such as costs of training, welfare services to employees, payroll taxes etc.).

Measures of labour costs should be net of any subsidies, rebates or allowances from governments for wage and salary payments to employees, or for other labour costs borne by employers.

The definition of labour costs from the 1966 International Conference of Labour Statisticians, paragraph 39 is ‘...remuneration for work performed, payments in respect of time paid for but not worked, bonuses and gratuities, the cost of food, drink and other payments in kind, cost of workers' housing borne by employers, employers' social security expenditures, cost to the employer for vocational training, welfare services and miscellaneous items, such as transport of workers, work clothes and recruitment together with taxes...’.

Labour payments data are primarily sourced from underlying data from two ABS National Accounts publications: Australian System of National Accounts and the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product. Please refer to Chapter 11 of the Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods for details on how data are compiled for National Accounts.

Data components of other labour related costs to employers are sourced from the Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables, Product Details and underlying information from ABS Supply-Use tables.

The table below summarises data sources used in compiling quarterly estimates in the Labour Payments quadrant.

Source data for the annual estimates of labour payments are the same as those described above for quarterly estimates.

Total labour income

Total labour income is the sum of:

• Compensation of employees; and
• Labour income from self-employment.

Total labour costs

Total labour costs is the sum of:

• Total labour income; and
• Other employment related costs.

Estimates of Compensation of employees at a total economy and industry division level are derived from underlying Australian National Accounts data. Division level data from the Australian National Accounts is further disaggregated to industry subdivision, using Compensation of employees information from the ABS Supply-Use tables for most industries. For some industries, the Supply-Use industries are more aggregated than industry subdivision. For these industries, information from the annual Economic Activity Survey or the proportion of filled jobs from business sources is used to disaggregate data to industry subdivision. One exception is Division S (Other Services), which uses information relating to earnings in all jobs from the household Characteristics of Employment Survey to disaggregate data to industry subdivision, as subdivision 96 (Private Households Employing Staff) is out of scope of all business collections.

Quarterly Compensation of Employees data are not available prior to September 2002. For earlier time periods, data at industry division level are backcast by applying movement in gross earnings from Wage and Salary Earners, Australia to the September 2002 level. These data relate to both the public and private sectors for each industry division except for Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing), which is limited to the public sector only. As the data are also on a historical industry classification basis, conversion factors (based on annual Australian National Accounts Compensation of Employees benchmark data) are also applied to approximate the current industry classification. These backcast quarterly data are then benchmarked to published annual levels.

Labour income from self-employment is an estimate of the share of Gross Mixed Income (GMI) attributable to the provision of labour. GMI is the surplus or deficit accruing from production by unincorporated enterprises that includes both the return on labour and return on capital.

The calculation of the labour share of GMI on an annual basis for each industry follows the method described in compiling Productivity Statistics outlined in Chapter 19 (Productivity Measures) of the Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. This method assumes that self-employed proprietors receive the same average compensation per hour as wage and salary earners, and can be summarised as comprising the following steps:

1. Average hourly income of wage and salary earners in each industry is calculated by dividing Compensation of Employees by the estimated number of hours worked in all jobs by employees in the industry (excluding the self-employed).
2. This hourly rate is then multiplied by the estimated number of hours worked by self-employed persons (OMUEs) whose main job is classified to the industry. This information is derived by expanding the average number of hours worked in the reference weeks recorded in the Labour Force Survey by the number of weeks in the quarter and aggregating for the year.
3. This estimate is then multiplied by a scaling factor, to constrain to total industry GMI reported in the National Accounts. The scaling factor represents the ratio of the sum of the independently calculated labour and capital shares of GMI, for each industry, to the independently calculated estimate of total industry GMI reported in the National Accounts. This difference can arise from the use of different sources and methods to derive estimates of returns to labour and capital, to the method used by national accounts in calculating total GMI.
4. As productivity statistics are not compiled for industries with significant “non-market” components, no GMI scaling factor is applied to estimated self-employed labour income for Division P (Education and Training) and Division Q (Health Care and Social Assistance).
5. No GMI is estimated for Division D (Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services), Division K (Financial and Insurance Services) and Division O (Public Administration and Safety), as there are no owner managed unincorporated enterprises (OMUEs) classified to these industries.

The Australian Labour Account calculates quarterly labour income from self-employment for each industry division by taking the scaled labour share of GMI from underlying Australian National Accounts productivity data, as calculated using the steps described above, and applying this share to the total level of quarterly GMI for each industry division. This approach ensures consistency between Australian Labour Account estimates of labour income from self-employment and Australian National Accounts GMI data.

As productivity statistics are not compiled for Division P (Education and Training) and Division Q (Health Care and Social Assistance), the scaled labour share of GMI for Division M (Professional, Scientific and Technical Services) is applied to total quarterly GMI for these industries. In addition, the scaled labour share of GMI for Division I (Transport, Postal and Warehousing) is used to represent Division A (Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing) while the scaled labour share of GMI for Division A is further investigated.

As industry productivity statistics are only compiled annually, the same annual scaled labour share of GMI is applied to each quarterly GMI measure for the financial year.

To disaggregate estimates of labour income from self-employment for each industry division to subdivision level, Gross Operating Surplus information from the ABS Supply-Use tables is used for most industries. For some industries, the Supply-Use industries are more aggregated than industry subdivision. For these industries, information from the annual Economic Activity Survey is used.

Quarterly GMI data are not available prior to September 2001. For earlier time periods, data at the industry division level are backcast by applying movements in original Gross Value Added (chain volumes) to the September 2001 level. These backcast data are then benchmarked to annual scaled GMI. For Division P (Education and Training) and Division Q (Health Care and Social Assistance), labour income from self-employment is backcast directly by applying movements in Gross Value Added (chain volumes).

Other employment costs

Other employment costs are the sum of

• Employers payroll taxes;
• Payment for recruitment services;
• Training costs; less
• Employment subsidies.

Employers payroll taxes

Estimates for employers’ payroll taxes at industry division level are taken from underlying Australian National Accounts estimates. Division level data from the Australian National Accounts is further disaggregated to industry subdivision, using Compensation of Employees information from the ABS Supply-Use tables for most industries. For some industries, the Supply-Use industries are more aggregated than industry subdivision. For these industries, information from the annual Economic Activity Survey is used.

Payment for Recruitment services and Training costs

Estimates of annual total expenditure on recruitment services are calculated as the sum of Intermediate Use (purchase price) and Government Final Consumption Expenditure sourced from the Australian National Accounts: Input-Output Tables, Product Details for Input-Output Product Classification (IOPC) 72110010 (Employment placement and recruitment services). Total quarterly job vacancies from Job Vacancies, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6354.0) are used as a quarterly indicator series to distribute this annual total across the four financial year quarters.

Training Costs are similarly derived and sourced from the Input-Output tables, using the following IOPC codes:

• IOPC 81010010 Technical, vocational and other non-tertiary education services;
• IOPC 81020010 Tertiary higher education services (including undergraduate and postgraduate);
• IOPC 82120010 Arts education services (excluding vocational);
• IOPC 82190011 Adult, community and other education services; and
• IOPC 82200010 Education support services.

Total wages and salaries for Division P (Education and Training) from Business Indicators, Australia are used as a quarterly indicator series to distribute this annual total across the four financial year quarters. As these data are not available prior to March 2001, data for earlier time periods are backcast by applying movements in private sector gross earnings from Wage and Salary Earners, Australia to the March 2001 level.

As Input-Output tables are only available infrequently for earlier periods and with a significant time lag for more recent periods, estimates of total annual expenditure on recruitment services and training costs for the intervening and out years are compiled using underlying data from the Supply-Use tables, based on applying movements in the following Supply-Use Product Classification (SUPC) codes:

• SUPC 72005 Employment placement and recruitment services;
• SUPC 80205 Technical, vocational and tertiary education services; and
• SUPC 80310 Arts, adult and other education services.

Supply-Use tables also provide proportions used to allocate total quarterly expenditure on recruitment services and training costs to industry subdivision. These proportions are based on total intermediate use of these products for each Supply-Use industry, with information from the Economic Activity Survey used for those industries where Supply-Use industries are more aggregated than industry subdivision.

Employment subsidies

Employment subsidies are payments made by government, typically to employers. They may be based on the size of the total workforce, the employment of particular types of people such as those who are physically handicapped or who have been unemployed for long periods. These subsidies may also be intended to cover some or all of the costs of training schemes organised or financed by employers.

Information on employment subsidies is sourced from data provided by the Department of Finance to compile estimates for the publication Government Finance Statistics, Australia – specifically, data relating to “labour market assistance to jobseekers”. As data for the current year employment subsidies estimate is not available at the time of publication of the Australian Labour Account, annual data for the current year are modelled based on previous years’ movements.

Typically, only annual data are available for estimates of employment subsidies. Therefore, quarterly estimates of employment subsidies are derived by evenly distributing the annual estimate across the four quarters. However, additional subsidies payable for a specific purpose may be added in targeted quarters to specific industries. 

Employment subsidies data from Government Finance Statistics, Australia are not available prior to 2010-11. Estimates for earlier time periods are modelled based on movements in a similar GFS data item, namely “Commonwealth subsidies paid to other”, where “other” refers to other than public trading enterprises.

To allocate employment subsidies to industry subdivision, data from the Supply-Use tables for subsidies on production by Supply-Use industry are used to derive industry proportions, with information from the Economic Activity Survey used for those industries where Supply-Use industries are more aggregated than industry subdivision.

As all data contained in the Labour Payments quadrant are flow data, which represent a measure of activity over a given period, data across time periods are additive. Therefore, annual data in the Labour Payments quadrant are derived as the sum of the four quarterly estimates.

It should be noted that the Labour Payments quadrant includes derived measures such as Average labour Income per employed Person. These are calculated using a flow as the numerator (e.g. Labour income), divided by a stock for the denominator (e.g. Labour Account employed persons). Where these data are presented in annual terms, caution must be exercised when comparing this result with other estimates measured at the same point in time, such as estimates of Average Weekly Earnings. This data is intended for comparison across time and industries within the Australian Labour Account, and to provide a link between the Persons and Labour Payments quadrants.