MARCH KEY FIGURES

		Feb 2012	Mar 2012	Feb 12 to Mar 12		Mar 11 to Mar 12
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	11 459.2	11 465.7	6.5		0.3	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	626.6	626.8	0.2		5.5	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.2	5.2	0.0	pts	0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.3	65.3	0.0	pts	-0.4	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	11 447.3	11 491.2	44.0		0.3	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	632.3	629.1	-3.2		5.6	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.2	5.2	0.0	pts	0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.2	65.4	0.2	pts	-0.4	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate

MARCH KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased to 11,465,700.
• Unemployment increased to 626,800.
• Unemployment rate steady at 5.2%.
• Participation rate steady at 65.3%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased to 1,613.9 million hours.

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• Employment increased 44,000 (0.4%) to 11,491,200. Full-time employment increased 15,800 (0.2%) to 8,080,400 and part-time employment increased 28,200 (0.8%) to 3,410,900.
• Unemployment decreased 3,200 (0.5%) to 629,100. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased 3,100 (0.7%) to 447,500 and 181,600 were looking for part-time work.
• The unemployment rate remained steady at 5.2%. The male unemployment rate remained steady at 5.1% and the female unemployment rate decreased to 5.3%.
• The participation rate increased 0.2 pts to 65.4%.
• Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 9.5 million hours to 1,624.2 million hours.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
April 2012	10 May 2012
May 2012	7 June 2012
June 2012	12 July 2012
July 2012	9 August 2012
August 2012	6 September 2012
September 2012	11 October 2012

CHANGES THIS MONTH

While seasonal factors for the complete time series are estimated each month, they continue to be reviewed annually at a more detailed level to take into account each additional year's original data. This annual review does not result in significant changes to published estimates. The review is usually conducted for the February publication of each year. This year the results are released in the March issue of the publication. For further information refer to the article Annual Seasonal Reanalysis.


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 sampling variability (see pages 34 and 35 of the publication). 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 FEBRUARY 2012 AND MARCH 2012
	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval
Total Employment	44 000	-10 800	to	98 800
Total Unemployment	-3 200	-37 000	to	30 600
Unemployment rate	0.0 pts	-0.2 pts	to	0.2 pts
Participation rate	0.2 pts	-0.2 pts	to	0.6 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.