• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

CHANGES THIS MONTH


BACKGROUND

As foreshadowed in the September 2010 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) in the article Labour Force Survey Population Benchmarks, the ABS has changed one of the assumptions used to create the population benchmarks underpinning the Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates.

The derivation of the net overseas migration component of LFS population benchmarks was previously based on the assumption that the previous year's net overseas migration (for the required quarter) movements were representative of the current year's movement.

From this issue onwards, the net overseas migration component of the LFS population benchmarks will be derived using assumptions that take into account a range of available supplementary data sources and relevant information to forecast population changes in the short-term.


IMPACT ON AUSTRALIA ESTIMATES

The statistical impact of the change to the assumptions underpinning the derivation of the LFS population benchmarks has been a decrease of 4,000 persons to the civilian population aged 15 years and over. There was a decrease in the total number of males, down 1,900 and a decrease in the total number of females, down 2,100. The impacts observed for the age groups were:

• 15 to 19 years decreased by 600 persons;
• 20 to 24 years decreased by 1,000 persons;
• 25 to 29 years decreased by 800 persons;
• 30 to 34 years decreased by 600 persons;
• 35 to 39 years decreased by 300 persons;
• 40 to 44 years decreased by 200 persons;
• 45 to 49 years decreased by 100 persons;
• 50 to 54 years decreased by 100 persons;
• 55 to 59 years decreased by 100 persons;
• 60 to 64 years decreased by 100 persons;
• 65 to 69 years decreased by 50 persons; and
• 70 years and over decreased by 50 persons.

• New South Wales decreased by 1,400 persons;
• Victoria decreased by 1,100 persons;
• Queensland years decreased by 700 persons;
• South Australia years decreased by 200 persons;
• Western Australia decreased by 500 persons;
• Tasmania and Northern Territory showed minimal change; and
• Australian Capital Territory decreased by 100 persons.

Statistical impact on Labour Force Survey estimates - October 2010
	Trend				Seasonally Adjusted				Original
	Total Emp- loyed	Total Unemp- loyed	Unemp- loyment Rate	Partici- pation Rate	Total Emp- loyed	Total Unemp- loyed	Unemp- loyment Rate	Partici- pation Rate	Total Emp- loyed	Total Unemp- loyed	Unemp- loyment Rate	Partici- pation Rate	Civilian Pop- ulation aged 15 years and over
	'000	'000	%	%	'000	'000	%	%	'000	'000	%	%	'000
Males
New South Wales	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.4	-	-	-	-0.5	-	-	-	-0.7
Victoria	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.4	-	-	-	-0.5
Queensland	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.3
South Australia	-	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1
Western Australia	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.2
Tasmania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-	-	-	-	-
Australian Capital Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-	-	-	-	-
Australia	-0.5	-	-	-	-1.3	-0.1	-	-	-1.5	-0.1	-	-	-1.9
Females
New South Wales	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.6	-	-	-	-0.5	-	-	-	-0.7
Victoria	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.4	-	-	-	-0.6
Queensland	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.4
South Australia	-	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1
Western Australia	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.2
Tasmania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-	-	-	-	-
Australian Capital Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-	-	-	-	-
Australia	-0.5	-	-	-	-1.1	-0.1	-	-	-1.3	-0.1	-	-	-2.1
Persons
New South Wales	-0.4	-	-	-	-1.0	-0.1	-	-	-1.0	-0.1	-	-	-1.4
Victoria	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.6	-0.1	-	-	-0.8	-0.1	-	-	-1.1
Queensland	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.5	-	-	-	-0.5	-	-	-	-0.7
South Australia	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.2	-	-	-	-0.2
Western Australia	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.3	-	-	-	-0.5
Tasmania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-	-	-	-	-
Australian Capital Territory	-	-	-	-	np	np	np	np	-0.1	-	-	-	-0.1
Australia	-1.1	-0.1	-	-	-2.3	-0.2	-	-	-2.8	-0.2	-	-	-4.0
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated