OCTOBER KEY FIGURES

		Sep 2012	Oct 2012	Sep 12 to Oct 12		Oct 11 to Oct 12
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 510.8	11 513.2	2.4		0.6	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	647.0	652.7	5.7		3.9	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.3	5.4	0.0	pts	0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.2	65.1	0.0	pts	-0.3	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 512.6	11 523.2	10.7		0.6	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	662.0	653.2	-8.8		5.2	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.4	5.4	-0.1	pts	0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.2	65.1	-0.1	pts	-0.4	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

OCTOBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased to 11,513,200.
• Unemployment increased to 652,700.
• Unemployment rate at 5.4%.
• Participation rate at 65.1%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked decreased to 1,621.1 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 10,700 (0.1%) to 11,523,200. Full-time employment increased 18,700 to 8,130,100 and part-time employment decreased 8,000 to 3,393,100.
• Unemployment decreased 8,800 (1.3%) to 653,200. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased 10,900 to 472,100 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased 2,100 to 181,100.
• The unemployment rate decreased slightly but the rounded estimate remained at 5.4%.
• The participation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 65.1%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked decreased 4.2 million hours to 1,622.6 million hours.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
November 2012	6 December 2012
December 2012	17 January 2013
January 2013	7 February 2013
February 2013	14 March 2013
March 2013	11 April 2013
April 2013	9 May 2013

REBENCHMARKING OF LABOUR FORCE SERIES

The ABS will rebenchmark Labour Force estimates in the November 2012 issue, scheduled for release on Thursday 6 December 2012. This rebenchmarking will align the Labour Force population benchmarks with the latest available information on population growth (based on estimated resident population), but will maintain the 2006 Census base for the population benchmarks.

As previously advised, the Labour Force Survey population benchmarks and the estimates will be revised following the release of the final 2011 Census-based resident population estimates. Further details about the 2011 Census-based rebenchmarked Labour Force estimates will be announced in the November 2012 issue.


ELECTRONIC COLLECTION OF LABOUR FORCE DATA

The ABS has been testing the collection instrument and procedures for the collection of labour force data from householders using on-line electronic collection. A trial of this approach will be undertaken over the coming months. Further information about the collection of labour force data via electronic forms will be provided in future releases of this publication.


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 pages 34 and 35). 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 SEPTEMBER 2012 AND OCTOBER 2012
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	10 700	-44 300	to	65 700
Total Unemployment	-8 800	-41 400	to	23 800
Unemployment rate	-0.1 pts	-0.3 pts	to	0.1 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\>.