AGGREGATE MONTHLY HOURS WORKED BY STATE AND TERRITORY


INTRODUCTION

This article introduces the expansion of the newly developed measures of aggregate monthly hours worked to complement the existing state and territory information on employment and unemployment.

For information on the methodology used to create these estimates see Information Paper: Expansion of Hours Worked Estimates from the Labour Force Survey, Australia (cat. no. 6290.55.001).

From the January 2011 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) (to be released on 10 February 2011), the ABS will introduce:

• monthly measures of aggregate monthly hours worked, by state, in seasonally adjusted terms; and
• monthly measures of aggregate monthly hours worked, by state and territories, in trend terms.

COMPARISON WITH AUSTRALIAN LEVEL AGGREGATE MONTHLY HOURS WORKED

In the first instance, in order to produce trend series, seasonally adjusted series are produced for all states and territories. Trend estimates are published for the Northern Territory and for the Australian Capital Territory. Unadjusted series for the two territories have shown, historically, a high degree of variability, which can lead to considerable revisions to the seasonally adjusted estimates each month when seasonal factors are estimated. For this reason, seasonally adjusted estimates are not currently published for the territories. In addition, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of trend estimates for the territories, particularly for the three most recent months, where revisions may be relatively large.

Additionally, the seasonally adjusted measures for the states and territories (whilst territories are not published) will not add to the Australian level of seasonally adjusted aggregate monthly hours worked, as the Australian level and each of the states and territories are independently seasonally adjusted.

Refer to paragraphs 28 to 36 in the Explanatory Notes of this publication.


AGGREGATE MONTHLY HOURS WORKED FOR NOVEMBER 2010

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Australia in November 2010 was 1,601.9 million hours, an increase of 1.4 million hours (0.1%) from October 2010, in comparison to the sum of the states and territories total of 1,600.0 million hours, an increase of 2.6 million hours (0.2%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Australia in November 2010 was an increase of 54.0 million hours (3.5%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Australia in November 2010 was 1,603.1 million hours, an increase of 0.7 million hours (0.04%) from October 2010, in comparison to the sum of the states and territories total of 1,600.7 million hours, an increase of 0.4 million hours (0.03%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Australia in November 2010 was an increase of 48.3 million hours (3.1%) from November 2009.


New South Wales

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in New South Wales in November 2010 was 506.1 million hours, an increase of 1.0 million hours (0.2%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in New South Wales increased 18.7 million hours (3.8%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in New South Wales in November 2010 was 505.7 million hours, a decrease of 0.6 million hours (-0.1%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased of 18.0 million hours (3.7%) from November 2009.

Victoria

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Victoria in November 2010 was 397.1 million hours, an increase of 1.7 million hours (0.4%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 14.0 million hours (3.6%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Victoria in November 2010 was 397.4 million hours, a decrease of 0.6 million hours (-0.2%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased of 8.1 million hours (2.1%) from November 2009.

Queensland

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Queensland in November 2010 was 330.2 million hours, a decrease of 0.1 million hours (-0.02%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 6.1 million hours (1.9%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Queensland in November 2010 was 331.7 million hours, an increase of 2.9 million hours (0.9%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 8.5 million hours (2.6%) from November 2009.

South Australia

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in South Australia in November 2010 was 112.0 million hours, an increase of 0.1 million hours (0.1%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased of 3.1 million hours (2.9%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in South Australia in November 2010 was steady at 112.2 million hours from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 4.3 million hours (3.9%) from November 2009.

Western Australia

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Western Australia in November 2010 was 176.2 million hours, a decrease of 0.1 million hours (-0.03%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased of 9.7 million hours (5.8%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Western Australia in November 2010 was 175.8 million hours, a decrease of 0.4 million hours (-0.2%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 9.2 million hours (5.5%) from November 2009.

Tasmania

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Tasmania in November 2010 was steady at 31.6 million hours from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 0.3 million hours (1.1%) from November 2009.

In seasonally adjusted terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in Tasmania in November 2010 was 31.1 million hours, a decrease of 1.2 million hours (-3.7%) from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people decreased 0.3 million hours (-0.8%) from November 2009.

Northern Territory

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in the Northern Territory in November 2010 was steady at 18.8 million hours from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 0.6 million hours (3.5%) from November 2009.

The seasonally adjusted measure for aggregate monthly hours worked for the Northern Territory will not be published. See paragraph 35 of the Explanatory Notes.

Australian Capital Territory

In trend terms, the aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people in the Australian Capital Territory in November 2010 was steady at 28.1 million hours from October 2010. The aggregate monthly hours worked by employed people increased 0.4 million hours (1.3%) from November 2009.

The seasonally adjusted measure for aggregate monthly hours worked for the Australian Capital Territory will not be published. See paragraph 35 of the Explanatory Notes.

AVAILABILITY OF DATA

Data used to compile the graphs in this article are available on the ABS website in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) in the spreadsheet titled Article_November 2010 in the downloads tab.


FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS

Further investigations will be undertaken in 2011 to expand the state and territory aggregate monthly hours worked series to include measures for males and females.


FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information on the methodology used to produce the aggregate monthly hours worked estimates is available on the ABS website in Information Paper: Expansion of Hours Worked Estimates from the Labour Force Survey (cat. no. 6290.0.55.001).

For more details on the hours concepts collected in the Labour Force Survey and other labour collections, refer to Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001).

For further information on this article, data supporting the article or the methodology used to construct these estimates, please contact Labour Force Estimates on Canberra 02 6252 6525 or email labourforce@abs.gov.au.