6291.0.55.003 - Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly, Aug 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/09/2007   
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Standard Errors
Estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) are based on information collected from people in a sample of dwellings, rather than the entire population. Hence the estimates produced may differ from those that would have been produced if the entire population had been included in the survey. The most common measure of the likely difference (or 'sampling error') is the standard error (SE). New models for calculating standard errors for these estimates were introduced in June 2007 and apply to estimates from the LFS from April 2001 onwards.

The ABS considers that estimates with a relative standard error of 25% or more may be subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes.

To determine if an item has a relative standard error of 25% or more, in SuperTABLE, right click in the centre of the table, select annotate cells - standard annotations, and select 'Annotate RSE cut-off values'.

To indicate those cells in spreadsheets with a relative standard error of 25% or more, annotations have been applied prior to dissemination.

In addition, the tables below have been supplied to show estimates at which the relative standard error is 25%. Estimates of the size indicated in the tables, or smaller, are considered to be subject to sampling variability too high for most practical purposes.

Additional information on how standard errors for LFS estimates are produced is available in the paper Labour Force Survey Standard Error, 2005 (cat. no. 6298.0).


State
Feb 78 to
Sep 82
Oct 82 to
Aug 87
Sep 87 to
Aug 92
Sep 92 to Aug 97
Sep 97 to Mar 01
From April 2001
Employed
Unemployed
NILF
NSW
4.5
4.0
4.5
5.3
5.9
4.9
5.7
5.9
Vic.
4.5
4.0
4.5
4.6
4.5
4.1
4.9
4.8
Qld
3.5
3.0
3.0
3.5
4.1
3.7
4.2
4.4
SA
2.5
1.8
2.0
2.4
2.4
2.0
2.7
2.5
WA
2.5
2.0
2.5
2.9
2.8
2.3
3.0
2.9
Tas.
1.5
1.0
1.3
1.3
1.1
1.1
1.7
1.3
NT
2.0
1.8
1.8
1.3
1.0
1.4
2.4
1.8
ACT
2.0
1.3
1.5
1.0
1.1
1.1
1.5
1.3
Aust.
4.5
3.5
4.0
4.0
4.4
4.9
4.7
5.3



Capital City/Balance of State
Sep 87 to
Aug 92
Sep 92 to
Aug 97
Sep 97 to
Mar 01
From Apr 01
Sydney Major Statistical Region
4.5
5.3
5.7
5.0
Balance of New South Wales Major Statistical Region
4.5
5.3
5.7
5.0
Melbourne Major Statistical Region
4.5
4.6
4.6
4.2
Balance of Victoria Major Statistical Region
4.5
4.6
4.3
4.1
Brisbane Major Statistical Region
3.0
3.5
3.7
3.5
Balance of Queensland Major Statistical Region
3.0
3.6
4.3
3.7
Adelaide Major Statistical Region
2.0
2.4
2.4
2.1
Balance of South Australia Major Statistical Region
2.0
2.5
2.2
2.0
Perth Major Statistical Region
2.5
2.9
2.6
2.5
Balance of Western Australia Major Statistical Region
2.5
2.9
2.8
2.3



Regions
Sep 92 to
Aug 97
Sep 97 to
Mar 01
From Apr 01
Sydney Major Statistical Region
5.3
5.7
5.0
Inner Sydney and Inner Western Sydney Statistical Regions
4.3
4.4
6.8
Inner Sydney Statistical Region
4.1
3.8
7.2
Eastern Suburbs Statistical Region
3.2
2.4
8.1
St George-Sutherland Statistical Region
3.3
1.7
6.2
Canterbury-Bankstown Statistical Region
2.9
2.9
6.1
Fairfield-Liverpool and Outer South Western Sydney Statistical Regions
4.0
4.3
6.3
Fairfield-Liverpool Statistical Region
3.0
4
6.3
Central Western Sydney Statistical Region
3.4
2.2
6.7
North Western Sydney Statistical Region (1)
3.1
6.1
Outer Western Sydney Statistical Region
3.6
3.1
Blacktown-Baulkham Hills Statistical Region
2.5
Lower Northern Sydney Statistical Region
4.9
3.2
6.6
Central Northern Sydney Statistical Region (2)
3.0
6.1
Hornsby-Ku-ring-gai Statistical Region
3.8
Northern Beaches Statistical Region
2.2
2.1
6.6
Gosford-Wyong Statistical Region
4.0
2.3
6.2
(1) Formerly Outer Western Sydney Statistical Region & Blacktown
(2) Formerly Hornsby - Ku-rin-gai Statistical Region & Baulkham Hills
Balance of New South Wales Major Statistical Region
5.3
5.7
5.0
Hunter Statistical Region
4.5
4.0
6.0
Newcastle Statistical Region Sector
4.1
3.6
5.9
Illawarra and South Eastern Statistical Regions
4.1
4.6
6.5
Illawarra Statistical Region
3.6
3.8
6.8
Wollongong Statistical Region Sector
2.7
2.4
6.4
Illawarra excluding Wollongong
7.6
South Eastern Statistical Region
6.0
Richmond-Tweed and Mid-North Coast Statistical Regions
5.0
5.5
6.4
Northern, Far West-North Western and Central West Statistical Regions
5.0
5.1
6.3
Murray-Murrumbidgee Statistical Region
4.9
5.7
6.4
Melbourne Major Statistical Region
4.6
4.6
4.2
Outer Western Melbourne Statistical Region
2.9
3.0
4.8
North Western Melbourne Statistical Region
3.0
3.5
5.2
Inner Melbourne Statistical Region
3.5
3.2
6.0
North Eastern Melbourne Statistical Region
3.6
2.8
5.1
Inner Eastern Melbourne Statistical Region
3.2
3.0
4.9
Southern Melbourne Statistical Region
4.2
2.5
5.0
Outer Eastern Melbourne Statistical Region
3.7
3.0
5.2
South Eastern Melbourne Statistical Region
3.4
3.6
4.9
Mornington Peninsula Statistical Region
3.4
2.7
5.0
Balance of Victoria Major Statistical Region
4.6
4.3
4.1
Barwon-Western District Statistical Region
4.1
4.1
5.0
Central Highlands-Wimmera Statistical Region
4.7
4.4
5.5
Loddon-Mallee Statistical Region
4.2
4.7
5.2
Goulburn-Ovens-Murray Statistical Region
4.2
4.5
5.8
All Gippsland Statistical Region
4.7
4.0
5.6
Brisbane Major Statistical Region
3.5
3.7
3.5
Brisbane City Inner Ring Statistical Region
2.4
3.8
4.4
Brisbane City Outer Ring Statistical Region
2.5
3.4
4.2
South and East BSD Balance Statistical Region
2.8
3.3
4.5
North and West BSD Balance Statistical Region
2.7
2.6
4.0
Balance of Queensland Major Statistical Region
3.6
4.3
3.7
South and East Moreton Statistical Region
2.4
3.3
4.5
North and West Moreton Statistical Region
2.8
3.2
4.5
Wide Bay-Burnett Statistical Region
3.1
3.7
4.7
Darling Downs-South West Statistical Region
2.9
3.0
4.8
Mackay-Fitzroy-Central West Statistical Region
2.9
3.7
4.3
Northern-North West Statistical Region
2.6
3.4
4.8
Far North Statistical Region
3.3
4.1
5.1
Gold Coast City Parts A and B Statistical Region Sectors
4.7
Adelaide Major Statistical Region
2.4
2.4
2.1
Northern Adelaide Statistical Region
2.0
1.9
2.5
Western Adelaide Statistical Region
2.0
1.6
2.7
Eastern Adelaide Statistical Region
2.2
1.5
2.5
Southern Adelaide Statistical Region
1.9
1.8
2.5
Balance of South Australia Major Statistical Region
2.5
2.2
2.0
Northern and Western SA Statistical Region
2.4
2.4
2.8
Southern and Eastern SA Statistical Region
2.0
2.2
2.3
Perth Major Statistical Region
2.9
2.6
2.5
Central Metropolitan Statistical Region
1.9
1.4
3.3
East Metropolitan Statistical Region
2.0
2.1
3.0
North Metropolitan Statistical Region
2.2
1.9
2.9
South West Metropolitan Statistical Region
2.1
1.9
2.8
South East Metropolitan Statistical Region
2.1
2.5
3.1
Balance of Western Australia Major Statistical Region
2.9
2.8
2.3
Lower Western WA Statistical Region
2.4
2.6
2.6
Remainder-Balance WA Statistical Region
2.5
3.2
3.0
Greater Hobart-Southern Statistical Region Sector
1.9
1.1
1.1
Greater Hobart Statistical Division
0.7
0.6
1.0
Southern Statistical Region Sector
1.7
Balance of Tasmania
1.2
Northern Statistical Region Sector
1.1
1.1
1.4
Mersey-Lyell Statistical Region Sector
1.2
1.1
1.4