6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Preliminary, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/03/2002   
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MEDIA RELEASE

March 07, 2002
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
20/2002

Annual revision of labour force estimates released today: ABS

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released its annual revision of employment and unemployment statistics following a reanalysis of seasonal factors. The latest reanalysis covers the period from February 1978 to January 2002.

The following table shows the effect of the latest reanalysis on seasonally adjusted estimates of employed persons and the unemployment rate for the period January 2001 to January 2002.


Employed Persons ('000)
Unemployment Rate (%)
Previously Published
Revised
Previously Published
Revised
2001
January
9,130.3
9,115.5
6.3
6.3
February
9,118.1
9,117.7
6.6
6.6
March
9,115.5
9,127.4
6.5
6.5
April
9,155.6
9,159.1
6.8
6.7
May
9,151.5
9,155.9
6.9
6.8
June
9,148.5
9,147.3
6.9
6.9
July
9,135.9
9,133.4
6.9
6.9
August
9,213.2
9,194.1
6.8
6.8
September
9,164.6
9,158.6
6.7
6.7
October
9,182.5
9,179.4
7.1
7.0
November
9,186.6
9,191.8
6.7
6.8
December
9,178.2
9,199.0
6.7
6.7
2002
January
9,280.0
9,262.7
7.0
7.0

Evolving seasonal patterns cause revisions to seasonal factors. More frequent than annual reanalyses would mean that the seasonal factors would stabilise sooner. This option will be discussed with users in the months ahead. Also, investigations are continuing into recent indications that variations in the start date of Labour Force Survey interviewing (particularly during the month of January) may have a slight impact on seasonal patterns in the data. If it proves sensible and feasible, a correction for this effect may be incorporated in future seasonal reanalyses.

The ABS will publish revised data from the latest seasonal reanalysis in Labour Force, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 6202.0) to be released on 14 March 2002, and in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6203.0) to be released on 2 April 2002.

Revised data to January 2002 are now available on the ABS's electronic data service - AusStats. These estimates, and forward seasonal factors, are also available as a special data service on request from the statistical contact listed below.