6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Feb 2006

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/03/2006

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Main Features
About this Release

FEBRUARY KEY FIGURES

		Jan 2006	Feb 2006	Jan 06 to Feb 06		Feb 05 to Feb 06

Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	10 036.7	10 041.2	4.4		1.4	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	551.8	554.2	2.4		3.9	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.2	5.2	0.0	pts	0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.4	64.4	0.0	pts	0.2	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	10 032.2	10 058.0	25.9		1.7	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	557.8	554.1	-3.7		4.4	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.3	5.2	0.0	pts	0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.4	64.4	0.1	pts	0.3	pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate

FEBRUARY KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,041,200
UNEMPLOYMENT increased to 554,200
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 5.2%
PARTICIPATION RATE remained at 64.4%

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT

increased by 25,900 to 10,058,000. Full-time employment increased by 6,200 to 7,186,800 while part-time employment increased by 19,700 to 2,871,200.

UNEMPLOYMENT

decreased by 3,700 to 554,100. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 2,800 to 394,000 while the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased slightly to 160,100.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

decreased slightly to 5.2%. The male unemployment rate remained at 5.2% and the female unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.2%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

remained at 64.4%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
March 2006	6 April 2006
April 2006	11 May 2006
May 2006	8 June 2006
June 2006	13 July 2006
July 2006	10 August 2006
August 2006	7 September 2006

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 ERRORS

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Because the entire population is not enumerated, the published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of this variability and appear on pages 27 and 28.

The 95% confidence intervals below provide another way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates from sample surveys. The interval bounded by the two limits is the 95% confidence interval. A 95% confidence interval has a 95% chance of including the true value of the estimate.

Movements in seasonally adjusted series between January and February 2006

	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval


Total Employment	25 900	-25 700	to	77 500
Total Unemployment	-3 700	-34 300	to	26 900
Unemployment rate	0.0 pts	-0.2 pts	to	0.2 pts
Participation rate	0.1 pts	-0.3 pts	to	0.5 pts

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Michael Johnson on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.

PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,348,000 in February 1996 to 9,056,700 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,300 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,041,200 in February 2006.

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 739,100 in February 1996 to 771,700 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,700 in September 2000, before rising to 685,700 in October 2001. The trend fell to 532,900 in January 2005, before rising to stand at 554,200 in February 2006.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose from 8.1% in February 1996 to 8.4% in February 1997, before falling to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend fell to 5.1% in July 2005. The trend has since risen slightly to stand at 5.2% in February 2006.

STATES TREND ESTIMATES

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

NEW SOUTH WALES

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for New South Wales generally rose from 7.4% in February 1996 to 7.7% in April 1997, before falling to 5.3% in August 2000. The trend then rose to 6.5% in November 2001, before generally falling to stand at 5.0% in July 2005. The trend has since risen to stand at 5.5% in February 2006.

VICTORIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Victoria decreased from 8.4% in February 1996 to 8.2% in June 1996. The trend then rose to 8.9% in November 1996, before falling steadily to 5.8% in October 2000. The trend then rose to 6.7% in November 2001, before generally falling to stand at 5.4% in February 2006.

QUEENSLAND

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Queensland rose from 8.9% in February 1996 to 9.5% in February 1997, before generally falling to 7.3% in August 2000. After rising to 8.7% in April 2001, the trend then fell to a low of 4.7% in February 2005. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 5.2% in February 2006.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for South Australia fell from 9.1% in February 1996 to 8.9% in June 1996. The trend then rose to 9.8% in July 1998, before generally falling to 4.9% in June 2005. The trend has since risen to stand at 5.1% in February 2006.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Western Australia rose from 7.3% in February 1996 to 7.5% in July 1996, before generally falling to 5.8% in July 2000. The trend then rose sharply to 7.4% in June 2001, before generally falling to stand at 4.1% in February 2006.

TASMANIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Tasmania rose from 9.7% in February 1996 to 10.9% in October 1997, before generally falling to 8.6% in September 1999. The trend then remained relatively steady until the end of 2002, before falling to 5.7% in January 2005. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 6.6% in February 2006.