6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Oct 2005

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 10/11/2005

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Main Features
About this Release

OCTOBER KEY FIGURES

		Sep 2005	Oct 2005	Sep 05 to Oct 05		Oct 04 to Oct 05

Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	10 036.1	10 035.8	-0.3		2.8	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	537.2	540.3	3.1		-1.9	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.1	0.0	pts	-0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.6	64.5	0.0	pts	0.9	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	10 025.2	10 005.4	-19.8		2.3	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	540.7	549.0	8.3		0.9	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.2	0.1	pts	-0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.5	64.4	-0.1	pts	0.6	pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate

OCTOBER KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT decreased to 10,035,800
UNEMPLOYMENT increased to 540,300
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 5.1%
PARTICIPATION RATE decreased to 64.5%

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT

decreased by 19,800 to 10,005,400. Full-time employment decreased by 60,800 to 7,096,900 while part-time employment increased by 41,000 to 2,908,600.

UNEMPLOYMENT

increased by 8,300 to 549,000. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased by 4,000 to 388,700 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased by 4,300 to 160,200.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

increased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.2%. The male unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.1% and the female unemployment rate remained at 5.3%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 64.4%.

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 September and October 2005

	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval


Total Employment	-19 800	-71 600	to	32 000
Total Unemployment	8 300	-20 100	to	36 700
Unemployment rate	0.1 pts	-0.1 pts	to	0.3 pts
Participation rate	-0.1pts	-0.5 pts	to	0.3 pts

INQUIRIES

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

PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons generally rose from 8,314,300 in October 1995 to 9,056,500 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,034,400 in January 2001, before rising to 9,455,400 in March 2003. The trend then fell for two months, before rising to stand at 10,035,800 in October 2005.

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 735,400 in October 1995 to 771,800 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,400 in September 2000, before rising to 685,400 in October 2001. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 540,300 in October 2005.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose slowly from 8.1% in October 1995 to 8.4% in February 1997, before falling to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend has since generally fallen to stand at 5.1% in October 2005.

STATES TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED PERSONS

NEW SOUTH WALES

The trend estimate of employed persons in New South Wales remained relatively stable from October 1995 to August 1997. Apart from small decreases in late 2000 and early 2003, the trend has since increased steadily, to stand at 3,252,400 in October 2005.

VICTORIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Victoria generally rose from 2,071,800 in October 1995 to 2,359,600 in February 2003. After falling to 2,346,600 in June 2003, the trend has risen to stand at 2,484,600 in October 2005.

QUEENSLAND

The trend estimate of employed persons in Queensland has generally been rising since October 1995, when it stood at 1,511,000. Apart from a small decrease in late 2000, the trend has been steadily increasing and stands at 2,001,700 in October 2005.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in South Australia remained relatively steady from October 1995 until December 1997, when it stood at 652,500. The trend estimate then fell to 639,600 in June 1998, before generally rising to stand at 740,900 in October 2005.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Western Australia generally rose from 832,200 in October 1995 to 987,100 in August 2004. Recently, the trend has increased at a greater rate to stand at 1,055,900 in October 2005.

TASMANIA

The trend estimate of employed persons in Tasmania, although fluctuating, remained relatively steady from October 1995 until March 2002, when it stood at 197,900. Since then, the trend has risen to stand at 221,700 in October 2005.