6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Feb 2014 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/03/2014   
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WHAT'S NEW IN LABOUR FORCE


ABOUT THE DATA

A number of changes to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) were introduced in February 2014 including:

  • The introduction of the results of the annual seasonal reanalysis which was conducted on data up to January 2014. This had minimal impact on the series. Refer to the article on Annual Seasonal Reanalysis on page 6 for more details.
  • The commencement of refined collection procedures, with the response rate expected to range from 93% to 95% each month. For more details refer to What's New In The Labour Force in the December 2013 issue. The response rate for February 2014 was 93.1% for private dwellings.
  • As part the program to improve the range of labour statistics available, topics were included in the supplementary survey conducted with the February 2014 LFS. The topics related to persons not in the labour force, and underemployed workers (normally conducted in September) and job search experience (normally conducted in July). The supplementary survey was available for online self-completion. Supplementary surveys could potentially influence the response to the LFS and this will be analysed further when the supplementary survey is processed.
  • The seasonally adjusted and trend aggregate hours worked series have been benchmarked to annual aggregate hours estimates for financial year 2013-14. This was originally scheduled to occur with the July 2013 issue, and resulted in a small downward shift in level, but did not significantly alter month to month movements.

The incoming rotation group for February 2014 had a higher proportion of employed persons and persons in the labour force (i.e. less persons not in the labour force) than the sample it replaced. This incoming rotation group contributed, in original terms, 37% of the increase in total employment and 29% of the decrease in persons not in the labour force in February 2014. The trend estimates provide a better measure of the underlying level and direction of the series especially when there are significant rotation group effects.