DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

		Nov 2015	Dec 2015	Nov 15 to Dec 15		Dec 14 to Dec 15
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 866.4	11 893.8	27.5		2.7	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	744.2	734.3	-9.9		-4.8	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.9	5.8	-0.1	pts	-0.4	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.1	65.2	0.0	pts	0.5	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 903.3	11 902.3	-1.0		2.6	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	738.4	727.5	-10.9		-3.6	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.8	5.8	-0.1	pts	-0.3	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.3	65.1	-0.1	pts	0.5	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased to 11,893,800.
• Unemployment decreased to 734,300.
• Unemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 5.8%.
• Participation rate increased less than 0.1 pts to 65.2%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.8 million hours to 1,649.9 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment decreased 1,000 to 11,902,300 from a revised November 2015 estimate. Full-time employment increased 17,600 to 8,228,700 and part-time employment decreased 18,500 to 3,673,600.
• Unemployment decreased 10,900 to 727,500. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work decreased 2,600 to 515,000 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 8,400 to 212,500.
• Unemployment rate decreased 0.1 pts to 5.8%, based on unrounded estimates.
• Participation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 65.1%, based on unrounded estimates.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 0.3 million hours to 1,645.2 million hours.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
January 2016	18 February 2016
February 2016	17 March 2016
March 2016	14 April 2016
April 2016	19 May 2016
May 2016	16 June 2016
June 2016	14 July 2016

WHAT'S NEW IN THE LABOUR FORCE

For details regarding an update to the Labour Force Survey questionnaire, the regular update to the seasonal adjustment process, the change to release timing and a minor revision to underemployment data, refer to the "What's new in the Labour Force" on page 8.


ROUNDING

Estimates of changes shown on the front cover and used in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movement 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 movements are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of sampling variability. 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 NOVEMBER 2015 AND DECEMBER 2015
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	-1 000	-59 600	to	57 600
Total Unemployment	-10 900	-47 700	to	25 900
Unemployment rate	-0.1 pts	-0.5 pts	to	0.3 pts
Participation rate	-0.1 pts	-0.5 pts	to	0.3 pts

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, email client.services@abs.gov.au or contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.