DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

		Nov 2016	Dec 2016	Nov 16 to Dec 16		Dec 15 to Dec 16
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 958.6	11 966.8	8.2		0.7	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	722.5	725.7	3.2		-1.6	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.7	5.7	0.0	pts	-0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.6	64.6	0.0	pts	-0.5	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 972.5	11 985.9	13.5		0.8	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	726.4	741.1	14.7		2.3	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.7	5.8	0.1	pts	0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.6	64.7	0.1	pts	-0.4	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 8,200 to 11,966,800.
• Unemployment increased 3,200 to 725,700.
• Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.7%.
• Participation rate remained steady at 64.6%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 2.3 million hours to 1,669.1 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 13,500 to 11,985,900. Full-time employment increased 9,300 to 8,176,500 and part-time employment increased 4,200 to 3,809,500.
• Unemployment increased 14,700 to 741,100. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 15,000 to 528,900 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 300 to 212,200.
• Unemployment rate increased 0.1 pts to 5.8%.
• Participation rate increased 0.1 pts to 64.7%.
• Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 6.9 million hours to 1,670.4 million hours.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
January 2017	16 February 2017
February 2017	16 March 2017
March 2017	13 April 2017
April 2017	18 May 2017
May 2017	15 June 2017
June 2017	20 July 2017

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 2016 AND DECEMBER 2016
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	13 500	-45 300	to	72 300
Total Unemployment	14 700	-22 500	to	51 900
Unemployment rate	0.1 pts	-0.3 pts	to	0.5 pts
Participation rate	0.1 pts	-0.3 pts	to	0.5 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.