MEDIA RELEASE
31 August 2011	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	101/2011

Around 1.7 million or almost 1 in 10 Australians above the age of 15 were out of work and looking for a job at some time during the year up to February 2011.

Of those who looked for work, three-quarters had a single spell of looking for work while not working during the twelve months to February 2011. Almost three-quarters (72%) of those who looked for work, spent less than half the year looking, while 8% looked for the whole 12 months without finding a job.

On average, people aged 55 and over spent the most time looking for work while not working (22 weeks of the year), according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Those aged 15–19 spent the least time looking for work while not working (15 weeks in the year).

The average time spent looking for work whilst not working was around 18 weeks for both men and women and men were more likely to be out of work and looking for a job during the year than women (53% compared to 47%).

Further information is in Labour Force Experience, Australia, February 2009 (cat. no. 6206.0), available free from the ABS web site www.abs.gov.au.

Media notes:

· When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
· As this survey measures labour force activity over a 12 month period, the terms worked and looked for work are used rather than the more precisely defined terms employed and unemployed. Worked and looked for work are mutually exclusive categories and someone defined as looking for work must also be without work.