APRIL KEY FIGURES

		Mar 2012	Apr 2012	Mar 12 to Apr 12		Apr 11 to Apr 12
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 473.6	11 484.2	10.6		0.4	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	617.6	614.2	-3.4		3.1	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.1	0.0	pts	0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.2	65.2	0.0	pts	-0.4	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 485.5	11 501.0	15.5		0.6	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	627.0	598.2	-28.8		1.4	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.2	4.9	-0.2	pts	0.0	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.3	65.2	-0.1	pts	-0.4	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

APRIL KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased to 11,484,200.
• Unemployment decreased to 614,200.
• Unemployment rate steady at 5.1% from a revised March 2012 rate.
• Participation rate steady at 65.2% from a revised March 2012 rate.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased to 1,624.1 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 15,500 (0.1%) to 11,501,000. Full-time employment decreased 10,500 (0.1%) to 8,062,800 and part-time employment increased 26,000 (0.8%) to 3,438,200.
• Unemployment decreased 28,800 (4.6%) to 598,200. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased 22,000 (4.9%) to 423,800 and the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased 6,800 to 174,500.
• The unemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 4.9%. The male unemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 4.8% and the female unemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 5.1%.
• The participation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 65.2%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 6.6 million hours to 1,633.9 million hours.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
May 2012	7 June 2012
June 2012	12 July 2012
July 2012	9 August 2012
August 2012	6 September 2012
September 2012	11 October 2012
October 2012	8 November 2012

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 ERROR

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of sampling variability (see Standard Errors for further information). The interval bounded by two standard errors is the 95% confidence interval, which provides a way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates. There is a 95% chance that the true value of the estimate lies within that interval.

MOVEMENTS IN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED SERIES BETWEEN MARCH 2012 AND APRIL 2012
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	15 500	-39 300	to	70 300
Total Unemployment	-28 800	-61 400	to	3 800
Unemployment rate	-0.2 pts	-0.4 pts	to	0.0 pts
Participation rate	-0.1 pts	-0.5 pts	to	0.3 pts

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email client.services@abs.gov.au or Labour Force on Canberra (02) 6252 6525, email labourforce@abs.gov.au.