MAY KEY FIGURES

		Apr 2008	May 2008	Apr 08 to May 08		May 07 to May 08
Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	10 694.8	10 705.3	10.5		2.5	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	462.4	465.5	3.1		-1.7	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	4.1	4.2	0.0	pts	-0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.3	65.3	0.0	pts	0.4	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	10 710.9	10 691.2	-19.7		2.2	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	476.7	476.7	0.0		2.3	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	4.3	4.3	0.0	pts	0.0	pts
	Participation rate (%)	65.5	65.2	-0.2	pts	0.2	pts

Employed Persons

Unemployment rate

MAY KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

• EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,705,300
• UNEMPLOYMENT increased to 465,500
• UNEMPLOYMENT RATE increased to 4.2%
• PARTICIPATION RATE remained at 65.3%

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT

• decreased by 19,700 to 10,691,200. Full-time employment decreased by 10,400 to 7,645,200 and part-time employment decreased by 9,300 to 3,046,000.

UNEMPLOYMENT

• remained steady at 476,700. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 17,900 to 317,700 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased by 18,000 to 159,000.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

• remained steady at 4.3%. The male unemployment rate remained steady at 4.0%, and the female unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.6%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

• decreased to 65.2%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
June 2008	10 July 2008
July 2008	7 August 2008
August 2008	11 September 2008
September 2008	9 October 2008
October 2008	6 November 2008
November 2008	11 December 2008

IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW SAMPLE DESIGN

Following each Census of Population and Housing, the ABS selects a new sample for the Labour Force Survey. This is done to ensure that the sample continues to accurately represent the distribution of the Australian population. A new sample has recently been selected based on the 2006 Census. Detailed information about the new sample is provided in Information Paper: Labour Force Survey Sample Design (cat. no. 6269.0), which was released on 28 November 2007.

In order to reduce the potential impact of the change in sample on labour force statistics, the new sample is being introduced progressively, taking advantage of the existing rotation scheme. Using this scheme, the private dwelling sample in larger urban centres and less remote areas, representing approximately four-fifths of the total sample, will be phased in over the period November 2007 to June 2008. Within these areas, one-eighth of the new sample will be introduced each month under existing sample rotation arrangements.

The rest of the sample (in remote, less populated areas and for non-private dwellings) was introduced in two stages. The first stage, which occurred in March, was the introduction of this sample in New South Wales, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. The second stage, which occurred in April, was the introduction of this sample in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

Analysis of the incoming and outgoing components of the sample indicates that the phasing in of the new sample has had minimal impact on the State and Territory estimates. Changes for remote, less populated areas and non private dwellings in March and April may have resulted in increased volatility in the affected states and territories.


INQUIRIES

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