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

A Data Cube containing Types of Employment can be found in the July 2006 issue from the Details tab and under Past & Future Releases tab above.

A Data Cube containing Measures of Labour Underutilisation can be found in the April 2006 issue from the Details tab.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

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 - 6. Labour Statistics and Prices].

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].

FREE DATA ON THE WEB

All ABS statistics can be downloaded free of charge from the ABS web site. This follows all ABS publications becoming accessible free of charge on 1 July 2005. A web page with more information and frequently asked questions is now available: <https://www.abs.gov.au/about/pricing>.

CHANGE OF CATALOGUE NUMBER

Beginning with the February 2006 issue, the quarterly components of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery are being released under a new product number (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003). The monthly component will remain the same at 6291.0.55.001, with the annual data available under 6224.0.55.001.

MEASURING CHANGES IN LABOUR COSTS

The quarterly national accounts publication for June quarter 2006, Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0), contained a feature article on measuring changes in labour costs. The feature article examines the definitions of various labour cost measures and the links between them, highlighting issues of interpretation. It discusses the links between wages and productivity and defines measures of unit labour costs (ULC) and real unit labour costs (RULC). The theory and results presented in the article indicate that a ULC measure for Australia gives results similar to the wage price index adjusted for labour productivity with the differences being mostly due to compositional effects. The article is available on the ABS web site, at <https://www.abs.gov.au>.

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
September 2006
	Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), First Edition	2006	1220.0
	Australian Economic Indicators	October 2006	1350.0
	Australian Economic Indicators Glossary	2006	1350.0.55.001
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	June quarter 2006	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	August 2006	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	August 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	August 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	August 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	August 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	June quarter 2006	6248.0.55.001
	Information Paper: Changes to ABS Measures of Employee Remuneration	2006	6313.0
October 2006
	Australian Economic Indicators	November 2006	1350.0
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	October 2006	6105.0
	Labour Force, Australia	September 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	September 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	September 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods	August 2006	6102.0.55.001
	Pregnancy and Work Transitions, Australia	November 2005	4913.0
November 2006
	Australian Economic Indicators	December 2006	1350.0
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	August 2006	6302.0
	Labour Force, Australia	October 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	October 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	October 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Price Index, Australia	September 2006	6345.0
	Pregnancy and Work Transitions, Australia Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File	November 2005	4913.0.55.001
	Pregnancy and Work Transitions, Australia Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, Technical Manual	November 2005	4913.0.55.002
December 2006
	Education and Work, Australia	May 2006	6227.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	September quarter 2006	6321.0.55.001
	Job Search Experience, Australia	July 2006	6222.0
	Labour Force, Australia	November 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	November 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	November 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	November 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Labour Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods	2005	6351.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	September quarter 2006	6248.0.55.001
	Work-Related Injuries, Australia	2005-06	6324.0
January 2007
	Australian Economic Indicators	January 2007	1350.0
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	January 2007	6105.0
	Job Vacancies, Australia	November 2006	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	December 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Spreadsheets	December 2006	6202.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	December 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Year Book, Australia	2007	1301.0

						% change from
Measure			Series type	Period	Current figure	Previous quarter(a)	Previous year(b)
Employed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	10 252.6	1.0	2.2
	Full-time	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	7 316.4	1.0	2.2
	Part-time	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	2 936.2	1.0	2.2
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	Aug 2006	28.6	(c)0.0	(c)0.0
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	518.4	-2.1	-3.1
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	364.1	-1.8	-3.5
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	154.3	-2.7	-2.2
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	Aug 2006	4.8	(c)-0.1	(c)-0.3
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	93.9	-3.2	1.9
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	Aug 2006	18.1	(c)-0.2	(c)0.9
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
	Long-term unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	0.9	na	(c)-0.3
	Unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.1	na	(c)-0.4
	Underemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.3	na	(c)-0.2
	Labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	10.5	na	(c)-0.6
	Extended labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	11.4	na	(c)-0.7
Children living without an employed parent(e)		%	Original	Jun 2006	14.4	na	(c)-0.5
Labour force participation rate
	Persons aged 15-64 years	%	Original	Aug 2006	75.5	(c)-0.3	(c)0.4
	Total	%	Trend	Aug 2006	65.0	(c)0.4	(c)0.4
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	Aug 2006	352.5	0.0	1.7
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	Aug 2006	34.7	-0.3	-0.2
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	Aug 2006	41.9	-0.2	-0.2
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	Aug 2006	16.9	0.1	-0.2
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	Aug 2006	24.3	(c)0.0	(c)0.4
Wage price index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Aug qtr 2006	109.7	1.0	4.1
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	May 2006	1 043.00	0.7	3.5
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	May 2006	829.00	1.2	4.4
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Jun qtr 2006	116 666	1.6	6.8
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis nominal) per week	$	Trend	Jun qtr 2006	1 006	1.1	4.7
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Jun qtr 2006	27.9	-7.4	-47.3
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Jun qtr 2006	3.1	-8.8	-48.5
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	Aug 2006	156.7	3.8	13.6
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