Apr-20 | May-20 | Monthly change | Yearly change | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seasonally adjusted | |||||
Employed people | 12,381,800 | 12,154,100 | -227,700 (-1.8%) | -695,600 (-5.4%) | |
Unemployed people | 841,900 | 927,600 | 85,700 (10.2%) | 219,200 (30.9%) | |
Unemployment rate | 6.4% | 7.1% | 0.7 pts | 1.9 pts | |
Underemployment rate | 13.8% | 13.1% | -0.7 pts | 4.5 pts | |
Participation rate | 63.6% | 62.9% | -0.7 pts | -3.2 pts | |
Monthly hours worked in all jobs | 1,617 million | 1,605 million | -12 million (-0.7%) | -158 million (-9.0%) |
Labour Force, Australia
Headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey
Key statistics
Seasonally adjusted estimates for May 2020:
- Unemployment rate increased to 7.1%.
- Participation rate decreased to 62.9%.
- Employment decreased to 12,154,100.
- Employment to population ratio decreased to 58.4%.
- Underemployment rate decreased to 13.1%.
- Monthly hours worked decreased to 1,605 million hours.
Estimates of changes are calculated using un-rounded level estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded level estimates.
Survey impacts and changes
Survey reference and collection week timeline
Survey response
Continued suspension of trend estimates
Quarterly population rebenchmarking
Treatment of people on JobKeeper, JobSeeker or stood down
For further information, please email labour.statistics@abs.gov.au.
Articles
This months Labour Force release includes the following articles:
- People who lost a job or were stood down: flows analysis
- Insights into hours worked
- Hours not worked: Hours-based measures of unemployment and underemployment
- Employment and unemployment: An international perspective
- Understanding differences between Labour Force employment statistics and Weekly Payroll Jobs
Unemployment
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020:
- the unemployment rate increased by 0.7 pts to 7.1% (1.9 pts higher than a year ago)
- unemployed people increased by 85,700 to 927,600 (and increased by 219,200 over the year to May 2020)
- the youth unemployment rate increased by 2.0 pts to 16.1% (and increased by 4.1 pts over the year to May 2020)
Employment
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020:
- employment decreased by 227,700 people (1.8%) to 12,154,100 people
- over the year to May 2020, employment decreased by 5.4% or 695,600 people
Underpinning these net changes in the number of employed people are extensive flows of people into and out of employment. Around 700,000 people who were employed in April were not employed in May, while around 500,000 people who were not employed in April were employed in May. See the article People who lost a job or were stood down: Flows analysis.
Full-time and part-time employment
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020:
- full-time employment decreased by 89,100 people to 8,540,000 people, and part-time employment decreased 138,600 to 3,614,100 people
- over the year to May 2020, full-time employment decreased by 237,900 people and part-time employment decreased by 457,700 people
This change led to a decrease in the part-time share of employment over the past 12 months, from 30.3 to 29.7%.
Employment-to-population ratio
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020:
- the employment-to-population ratio decreased by 1.1 pts to 58.4%, and decreased by 4.2 pts from the same time last year
The employment-to-population ratio provides a measure of employment relative to the size of the population.
Hours worked
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020, monthly hours worked in all jobs:
- decreased by 12 million hours (-0.7%) to 1,605 million hours
- decreased by 9.0% over the year, which is higher than the 5.4% decrease in employed people
See the article Insights into Hours worked for more.
Participation
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020, the participation rate:
- decreased by 0.7 pts to 62.9%, and decreased 3.2 pts over the year to May 2020
- decreased by 0.8 pts for men (to 68.1%) and decreased by 0.6 pts for women (57.8%)
- decreased by 0.8 pts to 75.3% for 15 to 64 year olds (the working age population). For 15 to 64 year old men, it was 80.1% and for 15 to 64 year old women it was 70.6%
- decreased by 2.8 pts to 59.9% for 15 to 24 year olds
Underemployment
In seasonally adjusted terms, in May 2020:
- the underemployment rate decreased by 0.7 pts to 13.1% (4.5 pts higher than a year ago)
- the underutilisation rate increased less than 0.1 pts to 20.2%
States and territories
New South Wales | Victoria | Queensland | South Australia | Western Australia | Tasmania | Northern Territory | Australian Capital Territory | Australia | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employed persons | 3,856,400 | 3,247,100 | 2,390,900 | 806,100 | 1,272,000 | 238,700 | 129,900 | 227,500 | 12,154,100 |
Employed persons - monthly change | -1.1% | -2.1% | -1.2% | -1.4% | -2.3% | -4.0% | -1.6% | -1.6% | -1.8% |
Employment to population ratio | 58.1% | 59.3% | 57.7% | 55.6% | 59.7% | 53.7% | 69.2% | 66.6% | 58.4% |
Employment to population ratio - monthly change | -0.7 pts | -1.3 pts | -0.7 pts | -0.8 pts | -1.4 pts | -2.3 pts | -1.1 pts | -1.1 pts | -1.1 pts |
Unemployment rate | 6.4% | 6.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 8.1% | 6.4% | 7.4% | 4.1% | 7.1% |
Unemployment rate - monthly change | 0.1 pts | 0.9 pts | 0.9 pts | 0.7 pts | 2.0 pts | 0.1 pts | 1.8 pts | -0.1 pts | 0.7 pts |
Underemployment rate | 13.5% | 15.2% | 11.8% | 13.1% | 12.1% | 14.6% | 10.3% | 5.7% | 13.1% |
Underemployment rate - monthly change | 0.2 pts | 0.7 pts | -1.1 pts | -2.5 pts | -2.3 pts | -1.8 pts | -0.0 pts | -3.5pts | -0.7 pts |
Participation rate | 62.10% | 63.7% | 62.6% | 60.3% | 65.0% | 57.3% | 74.7% | 69.4% | 62.9% |
Participation rate - monthly change | -0.7 pts | -0.8 pts | -0.2 pts | -0.4 pts | -0.1 pts | -2.3 pts | 0.2 pts | -1.2 pts | -0.7 pts |
Rotation group analysis
Sample composition and rotation
COVID-19 and the incoming rotation groups in April and May
Incoming and outgoing rotation groups
The importance of seasonally adjusted data
Contribution from sample components to estimates
Data downloads
Labour Force Survey results are released in two stages, with data not included in this first release included in the second monthly release Labour Force, Australia, Detailed. This second release includes both monthly and quarterly data. See the Survey output section of Labour Force, Australia methodology.