Australian Statistician to release statement on Labour Force estimates (Media Release)

	MEDIA RELEASE
3 November 2014	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)	153/2014

The acting Australian Statistician, Jonathan Palmer, will release a statement tomorrow (Tuesday 4 November 2014) on the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) Labour Force estimates. This follows the ABS announcement in the September 2014 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) that it would conduct a review to ensure that high quality Labour Force estimates continue to be produced.

The statement will provide background information on issues identified in seasonally adjusted Labour Force estimates over the period July to September 2014, on the investigations undertaken to understand these issues, and the approach for the October 2014 Labour Force estimates, which will be released at 11.30 am Canberra time on Thursday 6 November 2014.

Tuesday's statement will include revised seasonally adjusted estimates for total employed persons, total unemployed persons and the unemployment rate for the period December 2013 to September 2014. These estimates have been calculated using a new seasonal adjustment method identified in the review. The ABS will provide the revised estimates ahead of the October 2014 Labour Force release to ensure that interested parties have an opportunity to consider the implications, if any.

The statement will be available from the home page of the ABS website www.abs.gov.au from 11.30am, Tuesday 4 November 2014.

Media note:

• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• A spokesperson will be available to discuss the statement and revised estimates after 11.30am Canberra time 4 November 2014. No comment will be made before this time nor will there be any comment on the Labour Force estimates for October 2014.