AUGUST KEY FIGURES

		Jul 2011	Aug 2011	Jul 11 to Aug 11		Aug 10 to Aug 11
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 439.6	11 439.9	0.2		1.3	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	612.3	620.3	8.0		0.2	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.1	0.1	pts	-0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.6	65.6	0.0	pts	0.0	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 442.3	11 432.6	-9.7		1.2	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	618.4	636.8	18.4		5.6	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.3	0.1	pts	0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.6	65.6	0.0	pts	0.1	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

AUGUST KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased to 11,439,900.
• Unemployment increased to 620,300.
• Unemployment rate steady at 5.1% from a revised July 2011 rate.
• Participation rate at 65.6%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased to 1,622.4 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment decreased 9,700 (0.1%) to 11,432,600. A decrease in full-time employment of 12,600 to 8,034,900 was offset by an increase in part-time employment of 2,900 to 3,397,600.
• Unemployment increased 18,400 (3.0%) to 636,800. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased 24,500 to 458,900 and the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased 6,100 to 177,900.
• The unemployment rate increased 0.1 pts to 5.3%. The male unemployment rate increased 0.3 pts to 5.3% and the female unemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 5.3%.
• The participation rate remained steady at 65.6%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 4.6 million hours to 1,626.8 million hours.

LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE)

• Trend estimates: Labour Force underutilisation rate increased 0.1 pts to 12.2%
• Seasonally adjusted estimates: Labour Force underutilisation rate increased 0.1 pts to 12.3%. The male labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.3 pts to 10.5 % and the female labour underutilisation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 14.5 %.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
September 2011	13 October 2011
October 2011	10 November 2011
November 2011	8 December 2011
December 2011	19 January 2012
January 2012	16 February 2012
February 2012	8 March 2012

CENSUS

The ABS conducted the 2011 Census on 9 August 2011. To assist in undertaking field work for the Census, the ABS employed a temporary field force during August of approximately 30,000 collectors and field staff. However, it should be noted that of these 30,000 temporary staff, a proportion of these would have already been employed in a job. Others may have changed the way in which they reported their employment status, from part-time to full-time.


ROUNDING

Estimates of monthly change shown on the front cover have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.


SAMPLING ERROR

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of this variability (see pages 34 and 35). The interval bounded by two standard errors is the 95% confidence interval, which provides a way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates. There is a 95% chance that the true value of the estimate lies within that interval.

MOVEMENTS IN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED SERIES BETWEEN JULY 2011 AND AUGUST 2011
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	-9 700	-64 300	to	44 900
Total Unemployment	18 400	-12 600	to	49 400
Unemployment rate	0.1 pts	-0.1 pts	to	0.3 pts
Participation rate	0.0 pts	-0.4 pts	to	0.4 pts

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email client.services@abs.gov.au or Labour Force on Canberra (02) 6252 6525, email labourforce@abs.gov.au\>.