| 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
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Headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey
Reference period
May 2020
Released
18/06/2020
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
The May Labour Force Survey was run in respect of the first two weeks of May (ie. Sunday 3 May to Saturday 16 May), and collected over the three weeks from Sunday 10 May to Saturday 30 May.
Survey response
Response remained high in May, with a similar level of response to April. Following analysis of the incoming rotation group in April, both the April and May incoming rotation groups have been given the standard influence in April and May estimates. For more information see the rotation group analysis.
The ABS would like to thank Australians for their continued support in responding to our surveys during such a difficult time, given how critically important this information is.
Continued suspension of trend estimates
Given the extent of change in Labour Force time series, the ABS has temporarily suspended trend series and moved to using forward factors for seasonal adjustment. All estimates within the commentary, including information for the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, refer to seasonally adjusted data. For more information, please refer to Suspension of trend series and changes to seasonal adjustment during the COVID-19 period.
Trend estimates will also be suspended in the quarterly Labour Force data due for release 25 June 2020.
Quarterly population rebenchmarking
The ABS has revised the original Labour Force series for the previous 19 months to reflect the latest available preliminary and final estimates of Estimated Resident Population. This quarterly process ensures that the Labour Force series promptly reflects any change in population trends and minimises the size of revisions that can occur when the series are rebenchmarked following each Census of Population and Housing.
In response to COVID-19 related changes in travel, the ABS is now revising preliminary Net Overseas Migration estimates more frequently. Net Overseas Migration estimates are a component of population estimates, from which Labour Force benchmarks are produced. These revisions have been incorporated into the quarterly rebenchmarking revisions. For more information, please refer to Net Overseas Migration revisions in Labour Force benchmarks during COVID-19.
Further information can be found in the Rebenchmarking Labour Force Estimates article published in the February 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia.
Treatment of people on JobKeeper, JobSeeker or stood down
People paid through the JobKeeper wage subsidy, in receipt of JobSeeker payments, or stood down by their employer are classified as follows in the Labour Force Survey. This approach:
- is consistent with the long-standing concepts and practices used in the Labour Force Survey; and
- has not resulted in any changes to the Labour Force Survey questionnaire.
The ABS will update this information if new scenarios emerge or the conditions of existing scenarios change over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. People paid through the JobKeeper wage subsidy: employed
The ABS expects that people who are paid through the JobKeeper scheme will answer the questions in a way that results in them being classified as employed, regardless of the hours they work (e.g. even if they are stood down). People paid through JobKeeper may work less hours, the same hours, or more hours, than usual.
Under the JobKeeper program, eligible businesses and not-for-profit organisations affected by COVID-19 can elect to receive a subsidy to support their employment of eligible employees. Some self-employed people are also eligible to receive the JobKeeper payment.
Employers will pay these employees a wage, within their existing employment relationship, supporting an ongoing attachment to a job.
2. People in receipt of the JobSeeker payment: it depends on their labour market activity
People who receive the JobSeeker or other similar government payments are not automatically classified as unemployed (just as those classified as unemployed will not necessarily be in receipt of a government payment) and how they are categorised depends on how they answer questions around labour market activity.
The JobSeeker payment is paid to people who are looking for work or are sick or injured and cannot undertake their usual work or study for a short time, and who meet the eligibility requirements. People can also receive the JobSeeker payment if they have a job, if they meet a low income test.
Recent changes to the JobSeeker program related to COVID-19 also meant that recipients did not have to meet the usual mutual obligation requirements, such as looking for work. Some of these obligations are gradually being reinstated from June onwards, and changes may lead to increases in active job search and an increase in the number of people classified as unemployed in future months.
To be classified as unemployed in Labour Force statistics, a person must:
- have actively looked for full-time or part-time work in the last four weeks; and
- be available for work in the reference week.
People who were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then are also classified as unemployed.
3. People not working any hours, including those who were stood down: it depends on their job attachment and pay, and potentially other labour market activity
A person will be classified as employed if they:
- had taken any kind of paid leave;
- were away from their job for any reason (e.g. they were stood down), and were paid for some part of the previous 4 weeks (which could include wages subsidised through the JobKeeper scheme); or
- were away from their job for four weeks or less for any reason, without pay, but believe they still have a job to go back to (e.g. they were stood down, with no pay).
If a person is away from their job for four weeks or more without pay, or they believe they no longer have a job to be absent from, they will be classified as:
- unemployed - if they have actively looked for work, and are available to start work; or
- not in the labour force - if they have not looked for work and/or are not available to start work.
There will be a range of ways in which people will have been stood down without work as a result of COVID-19. Some may be stood down with pay, some through paid leave (e.g. long service leave, annual leave, etc) and some without pay. Some people will perceive that they still have a job (but just no hours at the moment), while others will consider they have lost their job.
These differences are effectively captured using Labour Force Survey questions, which support the ABS to effectively categorise people and produce key measures of the labour market.
People stood down without pay from late March through to early May were away from their job for four weeks or more and therefore were no longer considered employed in May. This explains part of the further fall in employment in May.
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
The Labour Force Survey sample can be thought of as comprising eight sub-samples (rotation groups), with each sub-sample remaining in the survey for eight months, and one group "rotating out" each month and being replaced by a new group "rotating in". As seven-eighths of the sample are common from one month to the next, changes in the estimates reflect real changes in the labour market, rather than changes in the sample. The replacement sample is generally selected from the same geographic areas as the outgoing one, as part of a representative sampling approach.
The sample comprises three components:
- the matched common sample (people who responded in both the current month and previous month)
- the unmatched common sample (people who responded in the current month but who did not respond in the previous month, or vice versa)
- the incoming rotation group (replacing people who rotated out)
The matched common sample describes the change observed for the same respondents in the current and previous month, while the other two components reflect differences between the aggregate labour force status of different groups of people.
While the rotation groups are designed to be representative of the population, the outgoing and incoming rotation groups will almost always have somewhat different characteristics, as they reflect different households and people. The design of the survey, including the weighting and estimation processes, ensures that these differences are generally relatively minor and do not affect the representativeness of the survey and its estimates. Monthly estimates are designed to be representative, regardless of the relative contribution of the three components of the sample.
The contributions of the three sample components to the original estimates of employed, unemployed and not in the labour force are in the Contribution from sample components to estimates spreadsheet.
COVID-19 and the incoming rotation groups in April and May
With the suspension of face-to-face interviews late in March 2020, falls in response to the Labour Force were seen in April (around 1000 dwellings), and May (a further 250 dwellings). Given the fall in responses in the incoming rotation group in April, the ABS decided to reduce the influence of the incoming rotation group, as part of the standard survey estimation methods. The ABS has undertaken further analysis of the April incoming rotation group, and also the May incoming rotation group. Following this analysis, both incoming rotation groups have been given full weight in the May 2020 Labour Force release, following the application of an extra weighting treatment to account for a small degree of bias detected in the data, related to slightly higher than usual non-response.
Incoming and outgoing rotation groups
The incoming rotation group in May 2020 had:
- a lower employment to population ratio than the group it replaced (59.3% in May 2020, compared to 59.5% in April 2020), and was higher than the sample as a whole (58.7%)
- a lower full-time employment to population ratio than the group it replaced (41.1% in May 2020, compared to 41.6% in April 2020), and was higher than the sample as a whole (41.0%)
- a higher unemployment rate than the group it replaced (7.2% in May 2020, compared to 5.9% in April 2020), and was higher than the sample as a whole (6.9%)
- a higher participation rate than the group it replaced (63.8% in May 2020, compared to 63.3% in April 2020), and was higher than the sample as a whole (63.1%)
The outgoing rotation group in May 2020, that will be replaced by a new incoming rotation group in June 2020, had:
- a lower employment to population ratio in May 2020 (58.5%) than the sample as a whole (58.7%)
- a higher full-time employment to population ratio in May 2020 (41.1%) than the sample as a whole (41.0%)
- a lower unemployment rate in May 2020 (6.6%) than the sample as a whole (6.9%)
- a lower participation rate in May 2020 (62.6%) than the sample as a whole (63.1%)
The importance of seasonally adjusted data
The gross flows and rotation group data are in original terms only, and are included to provide additional information on the month-to-month movements. They have a considerable level of inherent sampling variability, which is specifically adjusted for in the seasonally adjusted series.
Contribution from sample components to estimates
Data files
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.
Labour force status
Table 1. Labour force status by Sex, Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 4. Labour force status by Sex, New South Wales - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 5. Labour force status by Sex, Victoria - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 6. Labour force status by Sex, Queensland - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 7. Labour force status by Sex, South Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 8. Labour force status by Sex, Western Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 9. Labour force status by Sex, Tasmania - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 10. Labour force status by Sex, Northern Territory - Trend and Original
Data files
Table 10a. Labour force status by Sex, Northern Territory - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 11. Labour force status by Sex, Australian Capital Territory - Trend and Original
Data files
Table 11a. Labour force status by Sex, Australian Capital Territory - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 12. Labour force status by Sex, State and Territory - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 12a. Labour force status by Sex, Territory - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 13. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 15. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by Educational attendance (full-time) and Sex
Data files
Table 16. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by State, Territory and Educational attendance (full-time)
Data files
Table 17. Labour force status for 15-19 year olds by Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 18. Labour force status for 15-64 year olds by Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Hours worked
Table 19. Monthly hours worked in all jobs by Employed full-time, part-time and Sex and by State and Territory - Trend and Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 19a. Monthly hours worked in all jobs by Employed full-time, part-time and Sex and Territory - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 21. Quarterly hours worked in all jobs by Market and Non-market sector - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Underemployment and underutilisation
Table 22. Underutilised persons by Age and Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 23. Underutilised persons by State and Territory and Sex - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original
Data files
Table 23a. Underutilised persons by Territory and Sex - Seasonally adjusted
Data files
Table 24. Underutilised persons by Age and Sex (expanded analytical series)
Data files
Table 25. Underutilised persons by State, Territory and Sex (expanded analytical series)
Data files
Flows into and out of employment
GM1 - Labour force status and Gross changes (flows) by Age, Sex, State and Territory, February 1991 onwards
Data files
All time series spreadsheets
All Time Series Spreadsheets
Data files
Article archive
Understanding the labour force
Understanding differences between Labour Force employment statistics and Weekly Payroll Jobs (April 2020)
Classifying people during the COVID-19 period (March 2020)
Labour Force Explained (September 2017)
Understanding the Australian labour force using ABS statistics (December 2013)
Understanding full-time / part-time status in the Labour Force Survey (September 2013)
Employment level estimates versus employment to population ratio explained (January 2012)
Employment and jobs
Employment and unemployment: An international perspective (April 2020)
People moving into or out of employment or unemployment every month (March 2020)
How many people work one hour a week (January 2019)
Leave entitlements (November 2015)
Duration of employment (November 2015)
Sector of main job (November 2015)
Estimating jobs in the Australian labour market (February 2013)
Employment in mining in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia (May 2012)
Unemployment and underemployment
People who lost a job or were stood down: Flows analysis (April 2020)
Reasons people are not in the labour force (April 2020)
Underemployment in Australia (September 2018)
Spotlight on underemployment (November 2016)
Measures of underemployment and underutilisation (November 2015)
Full-time and part-time job search (November 2015)
Hours-based measures of unemployment and underemployment (November 2015)
Retrenchment (November 2015)
Did you know - Underemployment (June 2013)
Exploring labour force data on joblessness (February 2012)
Hours worked
People working fewer hours (April 2020)
Insights into hours worked (April 2020)
Reasons for working fewer hours (March 2020)
Insights into hours worked (March 2020)
Insights into detailed Labour Force Survey hours worked data (February 2020)
Revisions to monthly hours worked in all jobs (July 2016)
Regional estimates
Impacts on the Australian labour market: A regional perspective (April 2020)
Advice on reporting regional labour force data (December 2017)
Analysis of changes to Labour Force regional estimates (February 2014)
LFS content and output
ABS Labour Statistics: A broad range of information (July 2019)
500th issue of 6202.0 (January 2018)
Labour Force Survey pivot tables (August 2017)
Expanded education data from the Labour Force Survey (August 2016)
Change to Status in Employment output (July 2015
Forthcoming improvements to the content of the Labour Force and Labour Supplementary Surveys (January 2013)
Upcoming changes to the Labour Force Survey (July 2012)
Labour Household Surveys content review (June 2012)
Methodology
Improvement to the trending method for Labour Force rates and ratios (October 2019)
Assessing volatility in Labour Force statistics (July 2019)
On-line collection in the Labour Force Survey (April 2019)
Annual seasonal re-analysis (March 2019)
Improvements to trend estimation (March 2018)
Major re-benchmarking of Labour Force series (October 2017)
Changes to filter lengths used in labour statistics (February 2017)
Update on recommendation 7 from the independent technical review (November 2015)
Progress with recommendations from the independent technical review (July 2015)
Update on recommendations 10 and 11 from the independent technical review (June 2015)
Update on recommendation 7 from the independent technical review (May 2015)
Update on recommendations from the independent technical review (March 2015)
Rebenchmarking Labour Force estimates (February 2015)
Independent technical review into the Labour Force Survey (November 2014)
Removing the effect of supplementary surveys from seasonally adjusted estimates (October 2014)
Rebenchmarking Labour Force estimates to the 2011 Census (January 2014)
New Labour Force sample design (May 2013)
Transition to online collection of the Labour Force survey (April 2013)
Rebenchmarking of Labour Force series (November 2012)
Population benchmarks and Labour Force Survey (April 2012)
Historical revisions (February 2011)
Impact of the floods on the Labour Force Survey (January 2011)