• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

The spreadsheets and data cubes referenced in this publication are available on the ABS web site at <https://www.abs.gov.au> [Access to all ABS products & statistics - By Catalogue Number - 62. Labour Force], then [6291.0.55.001 for monthly data and 6291.0.55.003 for quarterly data] or [6202.0.55.001 for time series spreadsheets].

INQUIRIES

For information about other Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistics and services, please refer to the back of this publication.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or the Assistant Director, Labour Market, on Canberra (02) 6252 7636.

LABOUR STATISTICS NEWS


LABOUR THEME PAGE

The ABS Labour Theme Page, available on the ABS web site, provides a guide to the range of ABS statistics on the labour market, as well as links to the latest data released. To find the Theme Page, go to <https://www.abs.gov.au> [Themes - People - Labour].

SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEYS ON LABOUR TOPICS

The Monthly Population Survey comprises the Labour Force Survey and a range of supplementary surveys, which provide detailed information on a range of topics. Results from the Locations of Work survey have recently been released in: Locations of Work, Australia, 2005 (cat. no. 6275.0). The results of this survey are outlined in the Recent Releases section of this publication.

EMPLOYMENT TYPE

An updated data cube containing the annual time series spreadsheets on employment type, from 1992 to 2005, is now available from the ABS web site. To find the data cube go to <https://www.abs.gov.au> [Statistics - By Catalogue Number - 6. Labour Statistics and Prices - 61. Labour statistics - general]. The datacube is listed under the Details tab in this July 2006 issue of Australian Labour Market Statistics (cat. no. 6105.0). The spreadsheets in this data cube include estimates of employment type by sex and full-time/part-time status for each of the following variables: age (five year age groups), state of usual residence, industry and occupation. For more information see the Spotlight section of this publication.

TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP

In March 2006 a data cube (spreadsheet) was released containing historical trade union membership data. This data cube has been expanded and now contains two additional spreadsheets. One spreadsheet includes trade union membership data broken down by sex and occupation and the other consists of trade union membership data broken down by sex, full-time/part-time status and sector. To find the spreadsheet, go to <https://www.abs.gov.au> [Statistics - By Catalogue Number - 6. Labour Statistics and Prices - 63. Earnings, hours and employment conditions]. The data cube <6310.0_Trade Union_Aug 2005.xls> is listed under the Details tab for Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2005 (cat. no. 6310.0).

CONFIDENTIALISED UNIT RECORD FILE FOR THE 04/05 MULTI PURPOSE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

The 2004-05 Multi Purpose Household Survey (MPHS) collected data on three topics: Household use of information technology; Barriers and incentives to labour force participation; and Retirement and retirement intentions. The Barriers and incentives to labour force participation topic collected data from people aged 18 years or older who were either not employed or who worked few hours (less than 16 hours per week in all jobs). The data available include current and previous job details, reasons for not wanting work or more work and reasons for not being available to start work or more work. The Retirement and retirement intentions topic collected data from people aged 45 years or over and provides information on retirement intentions and sources of income at retirement, among other things. The MPHS 2004-05 Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) is now available and can be accessed via the ABS Remote Access Data Laboratory. For more information, please refer to the Information Paper: Multi-Purpose Household Survey, Australia, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, 2004-05 (cat. no. 4100.0).

ABS EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE

By subscribing to this free service, you will be kept informed via email of the latest releases of ABS products. To subscribe, follow the link from the ABS home page <https://www.abs.gov.au>, provide your email address, and select your topics of interest.

Recent and upcoming statistical releases
Release date/title of publication		Reference period	Catalogue number
June 2006
	Child Care, Australia (reissue)	June 2005	4402.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	March quarter 2006	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	May 2006	6354.0
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing - Confidentialised Unit Record Files	2003-04	6540.0
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing - Confidentialised Unit Record Files, Technical Paper	2003-04	6540.0.00.001
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide	2003-04	6503.0
	Labour Force, Australia	May 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	May 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	May 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	May 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Labour Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods	2005	6351.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	March quarter 2006	6248.0.55.001
July 2006
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	July 2006	6105.0
	Australian Social Trends	2006	4102.0
	Child Care, Australia, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File	June 2005	4402.0.55.001
	Child Care, Australia, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, Technical Paper	June 2005	4402.0.55.002
	Labour Force, Australia	June 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	June 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	June 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families - Electronic delivery	June 2006	6224.0.55.001
	Survey of Education and Training, Australia, Basic Confidentialised Unit Record File, Technical Manual	2005	6274.0
	Survey of Education and Training, Australia, Confidentialised Unit Record Files	2005	6278.0.30.001
August 2006
	ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations	2006	1220.0
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	May 2006	6302.0
	Characteristics of Small Business, Australia	2005	8127.0
	Labour Force, Australia	July 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	July 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	July 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Mobility, Australia	February 2006	6209.0
	Labour Price Index, Australia	June quarter 2006	6345.0
	Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods	August 2006	6102.0.55.001
September 2006
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	June 2006	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	August 2006	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	August 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	August 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	August 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	August 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Pregnancy and Work Transitions, Australia	November 2005	4913.0
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	June quarter 2006	6248.0.55.001
October 2006
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	October 2006	6105.0
	Labour Force, Australia	September 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	September 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	September 2006	6291.0.55.001

						% change from
Measure			Series type	Period	Current figure	Previous quarter(a)	Previous year(b)
Employed
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2006	10 114.1	0.5	1.2
	Full-time	'000	Trend	May 2006	7 221.2	0.6	1.1
	Part-time	'000	Trend	May 2006	2 892.9	0.3	1.6
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	May 2006	28.6	(c)0.0	(c)0.1
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2006	532.6	-2.4	-0.3
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	May 2006	372.0	-3.3	-1.2
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	May 2006	160.7	-0.3	1.8
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	May 2006	5.0	(c)-0.1	(c)-0.1
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2006	98.4	-1.1	7.1
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	May 2006	18.5	(c)0.2	(c)1.3
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
	Long-term unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	0.9	na	-0.3
	Unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.1	na	-0.4
	Underemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.3	na	-0.2
	Labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	10.5	na	-0.6
	Extended labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	11.4	na	-0.7
Children living without an employed parent(e)		%	Original	Jun 2005	14.9	na	-2.3
Labour force participation rate
	Persons aged 15-64 years	%	Original	May 2006	75.8	(c)-0.2	(c)0.2
	Total	%	Trend	May 2006	64.5	(c)0.0	(c)-0.1
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	May 2006	352.4	0.9	2.0
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	May 2006	34.7	-0.2	0.3
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	May 2006	42.0	0.7	0.1
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	May 2006	16.9	0.1	1.5
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	May 2006	24.3	(c)-1.1	(c)-0.8
Wage price index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Mar qtr 2006	108.5	0.9	4.0
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	Feb 2006	1 035.90	0.7	4.4
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	Feb 2006	817.00	0.8	4.4
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Mar qtr 2006	114 794	1.5	7.1
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis nominal) per week	$	Trend	Mar qtr 2006	998	1.1	4.8
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Mar qtr 2006	29.6	-63.4	-34.3
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Mar qtr 2006	3.4	-63.4	-35.6
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	May 2006	151.6	5.1	6.7
na not available
(a) Same period previous quarter (monthly data is presented for the middle month of each quarter).
(b) Same period previous year.
(c) Change is in percentage points.
(d) See table 4.1 or the Glossary for further explanation of labour underutilisation rates.
(e) As a proportion of all children aged under 15 years. See the Explanatory Notes for information on family data.

EMPLOYMENT: TREND SERIES

Full-time and total employment

Males and females

Proportion of total employment, Males

Proportion of total employment, Females

Males and females

Proportion of total unemployment

Labour underutilisation rates - 1995-2005

Persons

Males

Females

Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Quarterly change

Full-time adult ordinary time earnings, Quarterly change

All employees total earnings, Level

Working days lost, Quarter ending

Job vacancies, By sector