6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Mar 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/04/2006   
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MARCH KEY FIGURES

Feb 2006
Mar 2006
Feb 06 to Mar 06
Mar 05 to Mar 06

Trend
Employed persons ('000)
10 055.2
10 067.7
12.4
1.4
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
547.7
546.4
-1.2
2.1
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.2
5.1
0.0
pts
0.0
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.4
64.4
0.0
pts
0.1
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
10 058.2
10 085.3
27.0
1.5
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
553.1
533.9
-19.2
-1.6
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.2
5.0
-0.2
pts
-0.1
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.4
64.4
0.0
pts
0.0
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate



MARCH KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,067,700
  • UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 546,400
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE decreased to 5.1%
  • PARTICIPATION RATE remained at 64.4%


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 27,000 to 10,085,300. Full-time employment decreased by 12,400 to 7,172,600 while part-time employment increased by 39,500 to 2,912,700.

UNEMPLOYMENT
  • decreased by 19,200 to 533,900. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 15,400 to 377,900 while the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased by 3,800 to 156,000.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
  • decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.0%. The male unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.0% and the female unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.1%.

PARTICIPATION RATE
  • remained at 64.4%.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
April 2006 11 May 2006
May 2006 8 June 2006
June 2006 13 July 2006
July 2006 10 August 2006
August 2006 7 September 2006
September 2006 12 October 2006



CYCLONE LARRY

LFS estimates for March 2006 were unaffected by Cyclone Larry because the field work was completed before any damage was caused.



ROUNDING

Estimates of monthly change shown on the front cover have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.



SAMPLING ERRORS

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Because the entire population is not enumerated, the published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of this variability and appear on pages 27 and 28.


The 95% confidence intervals below provide another way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates from sample surveys. The interval bounded by the two limits is the 95% confidence interval. A 95% confidence interval has a 95% chance of including the true value of the estimate.

movements in seasonally adjusted series between february and march 2006

Monthly change
95% Confidence interval

Total Employment
27 000
-24 800
to
78 800
Total Unemployment
-19 200
-49 800
to
11 400
Unemployment rate
-0.2 pts
-0.4 pts
to
0.0 pts
Participation rate
0.0 pts
-0.4 pts
to
0.4 pts



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Michael Johnson on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.



PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,349,500 in March 1996 to 9,056,700 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,400 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,067,700 in March 2006.

Graph: Employed Persons



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 739,700 in March 1996 to 771,700 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,700 in September 2000, before rising to 685,800 in October 2001. The trend fell to 532,800 in January 2005, before rising to 548,000 in January 2006. Since then, the trend has fallen slightly to stand at 546,400 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed Persons



UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose from 8.1% in March 1996 to 8.4% in February 1997, before falling to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend fell to 5.1% in July 2005. The trend rose slightly to 5.2% in February 2006, before falling to stand at 5.1% in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployment Rate



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS TREND ESTIMATES


UNEMPLOYED MALES LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK


TOTAL

The trend estimate of males looking for full-time work generally fell from 393,200 in March 1996 to 287,900 June 2000. The trend estimate then rose to 329,900 in October 2001, before generally falling to 220,900 in May 2005. The trend estimate then rose to 235,900 in December 2005, before falling to stand at 233,900 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed males looking for full-time work (trend)



MALES AGED 15-19 YEARS

The trend estimate of males aged 15 to 19 years looking for full-time work generally fell from 53,400 in March 1996 to 34,000 in July 2000. The trend then rose to 45,500 in September 2001, before generally falling to 34,200 in March 2005. The trend estimate then rose to 37,600 in September 2005, before falling to stand at 35,900 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed males (aged 15-19) looking for full-time work (trend)



MALES AGED 20 YEARS AND OVER

The trend estimate of males aged 20 years and over looking for full-time work generally fell from 339,900 in March 1996 to 253,800 in June 2000, before rising to 284,700 in October 2001. The trend then generally fell to 186,100 in May 2005, before rising to stand at 199,000 in December 2005. Since then, the trend estimate has fallen slightly to stand at 198,000 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed males (aged 20 & over) looking for full-time work (trend)



UNEMPLOYED FEMALES LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK


TOTAL

The trend estimate of females looking for full-time work generally rose from 208,500 in March 1996 to 223,700 in February 1997. The trend estimate then fell to 152,700 in September 2000, before rising to 188,700 in October 2001. The trend estimate then generally fell to 149,100 in September 2005, before rising to stand at 153,500 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed females looking for full-time work (trend)



FEMALES AGED 15-19 YEARS

The trend estimate of females aged 15 to 19 years looking for full-time work generally fell from 36,100 in March 1996 to a low of 24,200 in October 2000. The trend then rose to 31,500 in September 2001, before generally falling to 25,500 in November 2004. The trend then rose to 27,100 in April 2005, before falling to stand at 25,000 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed females (aged 15-19) looking for full-time work (trend)



FEMALES AGED 20 YEARS AND OVER

The trend estimate of females aged 20 years and over looking for full-time work rose from 172,400 in March 1996 to 189,000 in April 1997, before generally falling to 128,200 in September 2000. The trend then rose to 157,400 in November 2001 before generally falling to 122,100 in September 2005. Since then, the trend has risen to stand at 128,500 in March 2006.

Graph: Unemployed females (aged 20 & over) looking for full-time work (trend)