6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, May 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 09/06/2011   
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MAY KEY FIGURES

Apr 2011
May 2011
Apr 11 to May 11
May 10 to May 11
Trend
Employed persons ('000)
11 442.4
11 444.2
1.8
2.3
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
589.8
588.4
-1.4
-4.9
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.9
4.9
0.0
pts
-0.3
pts
Participation rate (%)
65.6
65.6
0.0
pts
0.2
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
11 432.8
11 440.5
7.8
2.3
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
583.9
592.8
8.9
-2.3
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.9
4.9
0.1
pts
-0.2
pts
Participation rate (%)
65.6
65.6
0.0
pts
0.3
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment Rate
Graph: Unemployment Rate




MAY KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
  • Employment increased to 11,444,200.
  • Unemployment decreased to 588,400.
  • Unemployment rate steady at 4.9%.
  • Participation rate steady at 65.6%.
  • Aggregate monthly hours worked increased to 1,602.5 million hours.


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)
  • Employment increased 7,800 (0.1%) to 11,440,500. Full-time employment decreased 22,000 to 8,027,100 and part-time employment increased 29,800 to 3,413,500.
  • Unemployment increased 8,900 (1.5%) to 592,800. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased 6,700 to 421,800 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased 2,200 to 171,100.
  • The unemployment rate remained steady at 4.9%. The male unemployment rate decreased 0.2 pts to 4.5% and the female unemployment rate increased 0.4 pts to 5.4%.
  • The participation rate remained steady at 65.6%.
  • Aggregate monthly hours worked increased 6.4 million hours to 1,601.1 million hours.


LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION (QUARTERLY CHANGE)
  • Trend estimates: The labour force underutilisation rate decreased 0.1 pts to 12.0%.
  • Seasonally adjusted estimates: The labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 12.2%. The male labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 10.2%. The female labour force underutilisation rate increased 0.2 pts to 14.6%.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
June 2011 7 July 2011
July 2011 11 August 2011
August 2011 8 September 2011
September 2011 13 October 2011
October 2011 10 November 2011
November 2011 8 December 2011



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 this variability (see pages 34 and 35). 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
April 2011 and May 2011
Monthly change
95% Confidence interval
Total Employment
7 800
-46 800
to
62 400
Total Unemployment
8 900
-22 100
to
39 900
Unemployment rate
0.1 pts
-0.1 pts
to
0.3 pts
Participation rate
0.0 pts
-0.4 pts
to
0.4 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\>.