LABOUR FORCE

Job Vacancies
Employed Persons
Unemployment
Participation rate
Employed Persons by Industry

JOB VACANCIES

In original terms, Queensland's total number of job vacancies increased to 41,600 in May 2008 from 38,600 in February 2008. The May 2008 vacancies were 17% higher than in May 2007. Public sector vacancies accounted for 7.7% of total job vacancies in May 2008.

Further information on this topic can be accessed at Job Vacancies, Australia (cat. no. 6354.0). This publication is released quarterly.

EMPLOYED PERSONS

In June 2008, total employment in Queensland in trend terms rose to 2,182,300 persons. Full-time employed persons (1,574,100) accounted for 72% of total employed persons. Males accounted for 65% of full-time employed persons and 54% of total employed persons.

UNEMPLOYMENT

The trend estimate of the number of unemployed persons in Queensland for June 2008 was 86,700 persons. This equates to an unemployment rate of 3.8%. Since July 2004, in trend estimate terms, the Queensland unemployment rate has been lower than the national unemployment rate.

Females accounted for 51% of the number of unemployed persons in Queensland in June 2008 and had an unemployment rate of 4.2%. The corresponding male unemployment rate was 3.5%. Females have had higher rates of unemployment than their male counterparts since May 2002.

PARTICIPATION RATE

The trend estimate of the participation rate for Queensland in June 2008 was 67.2%. This rate is 3.5% higher than June 1998. Queensland has consistently recorded higher participation rates than the national average.

For Queensland, the trend participation rate for females has been over 60% since July 2006, and was 61.1% in June 2008. This is an 9.3% increase on the female participation rate recorded in June 1998. The male participation rate in June 2008 was 73.4%, a decrease of -0.8% on the rate recorded for June 1998.

Further information on these topics can be accessed at Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) and Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets (cat. no. 6202.0.55.001) or ring the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. These publications are released monthly.

EMPLOYED PERSONS BY INDUSTRY

There were 2,178,700 employed persons in Queensland in May 2008. The industries with the most number of employed persons were Retail trade (326,800), Property and business services (236,800) and Construction (234,300). Those industries employing the least number of persons included Electricity, gas and water (25,700), Communication services (31,700) and Mining (37,700).

The five major industries with the most number of employed persons accounted for over half (56%) of Queensland's employed.

In the year May 2007 to May 2008, the greatest increase of employed persons occurred in Electricity, Gas and Water Supply (57%). In the same period, Cultural and Recreational Services had the greatest decrease in employed persons with a reduction of 13%.

Note: Employed persons by industry has been reported in original terms and cannot be directly compared to the trend estimates reported for Labour Force.

For more detailed information on this topic, please refer to Labour Force , Australia, Detailed, Quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003) or ring the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. This publication is released quarterly.