6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Mar 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/04/2005   
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MARCH KEY FIGURES

Feb 2005
Mar 2005
Feb 05 to Mar 05
Mar 04 to Mar 05
Trend
Employed persons ('000)
9,900.6
9,927.0
26.4
3.2
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
531.6
532.2
0.6
-8.0
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.1
5.1
0.0
pts
-0.6
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.2
64.3
0.1
pts
0.8
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
9,893.4
9,951.2
57.8
3.4
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
534.5
539.5
5.0
-5.4
%
Unemployment rate (%)
5.1
5.1
0.0
pts
-0.5
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.2
64.5
0.3
pts
1.0
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate



MARCH KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • EMPLOYMENT increased to 9,927,000
  • UNEMPLOYMENT increased to 532,200
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 5.1%
  • PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 64.3%


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 57,800 to 9,951,200. Full-time employment increased by 5,400 to 7,087,200 and part-time employment increased by 52,300 to 2,864,000.

UNEMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 5,000 to 539,500. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 1,700 to 379,900 while the number of persons looking for part-time work increased by 6,600 to 159,600.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
  • remained at 5.1%. The male unemployment rate remained at 4.9% while the female unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.5%.

PARTICIPATION RATE
  • increased by 0.3 percentage points to 64.5%.


NOTES

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 February and March 2005
Monthly change
95% Confidence interval
Total Employment
57,800
20,400
to
95,200
Total Unemployment
5,000
-8,800
to
18,800
Unemployment rate
0.0 pts
-0.2 pts
to
0.2 pts
Participation rate
0.3 pts
0.1 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 Erika Maxim on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.



PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons generally rose from 8,188,300 in March 1995 to 9,055,300 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,035,300 in January 2001, before rising to 9,459,600 in March 2003. The trend then fell for three months before rising to stand at 9,927,000 in March 2005.

Graph: Employed Persons (Trend)



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons generally rose from March 1995 to 771,800 in February 1997. The trend then fell to 583,300 in September 2000 before rising to 685,000 in October 2001. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 532,200 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed Persons (Trend)



UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate was relatively steady from March 1995 to February 1997. After falling to 6.1% in September 2000, the trend rose to 7.0% in October 2001. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 5.1% in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployment Rate (Trend)



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS TREND ESTIMATES


UNEMPLOYED MALES LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK


TOTAL

The trend estimate of males seeking full-time work remained relatively steady over the two years from March 1995 to April 1997, when it stood at 398,200. The trend generally dropped to 287,900 in June 2000 before rising to 329,900 in October 2001. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 219,600 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed males looking for full-time work (trend)



MALES AGED 15-19

The trend estimate of males aged 15 to 19 looking for full-time work rose slightly from March 1995 to 53,900 in May 1996, before generally falling to 34,000 in July 2000. The trend then rose to 45,600 in September 2001, before generally falling to stand at 33,400 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed males (aged 15-19) looking for full-time work (trend)



MALES AGED 20 AND OVER

The trend estimate of males aged 20 and over looking for full-time work remained relatively steady from March 1995 to May 1997, before falling to 253,800 in June 2000. The trend then rose to 284,600 in October 2001, before generally falling to stand at 186,300 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed males (aged 20 & over) looking for full-time work (trend)



UNEMPLOYED FEMALES LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK


TOTAL

The trend estimate of females looking for full-time work was relatively steady between March 1995 and February 1997, when it stood at 223,700. The trend estimate then fell to 152,600 in September 2000 before rising to 188,200 in October 2001. The trend then remained relatively steady for 18 months before falling to 151,500 in November 2004. The trend has since risen to stand at 160,200 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed females looking for full-time work (trend)



FEMALES AGED 15-19

The trend estimate of females aged 15 to 19 looking for full-time work generally fell from 43,200 in March 1995 to a low of 24,100 in October 2000. The trend then rose to 31,600 in September 2001, before generally falling to stand at 26,400 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed females (aged 15-19) looking for full-time work (trend)



FEMALES AGED 20 AND OVER

The trend estimate of females aged 20 and over looking for full-time work generally rose from March 1995 to 189,000 in April 1997, before falling to 128,100 in September 2000. The trend then rose to 157,100 in November 2001 before remaining relatively steady for 18 months. The trend then dropped to 126,300 in November 2004 before rising to stand at 133,800 in March 2005.

Graph: Unemployed females (aged 20 & over) looking for full-time work (trend)