6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Sep 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/10/2006   
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SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

Aug 2006
Sep 2006
Aug 06 to Sep 06
Sep 05 to Sep 06
Trend
Employed persons ('000)
10 260.2
10 287.5
27.3
2.6
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
517.9
516.1
-1.7
-4.1
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.8
4.8
0.0
pts
-0.3
pts
Participation rate (%)
65.0
65.1
0.1
pts
0.6
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
10 263.8
10 295.2
31.4
2.7
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
521.5
514.7
-6.8
-4.9
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.8
4.8
-0.1
pts
-0.4
pts
Participation rate (%)
65.0
65.1
0.1
pts
0.6
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate



SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,287,500
  • UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 516,100
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 4.8%
  • PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 65.1%


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 31,400 to 10,295,200. Full-time employment increased by 36,000 to 7,360,600 and part-time employment decreased by 4,600 to 2,934,500.

UNEMPLOYMENT
  • decreased by 6,800 to 514,700. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 5,600 to 360,100 and the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased by 1,200 to 154,600.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
  • decreased slightly, but the rounded estimate remained at 4.8%. The male unemployment rate remained at 4.7% and the female unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.8%.

PARTICIPATION RATE
  • increased by 0.1 percentage point to 65.1%.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
October 2006 9 November 2006
November 2006 7 December 2006
December 2006 11 January 2007
January 2007 8 February 2007
February 2007 15 March 2007
March 2007 12 April 2007



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 August and September 2006
Monthly change
95% Confidence interval
Total Employment
31 400
-21 200
to
84 000
Total Unemployment
-6 800
-34 400
to
20 800
Unemployment rate
-0.1 pts
-0.3 pts
to
0.1 pts
Participation rate
0.1 pts
-0.3 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 Bjorn Jarvis on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.



PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,387,400 in September 1996 to 9,056,300 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,800 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,287,500 in September 2006.

Graph: Employed persons



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 758,900 in September 1996 to 771,600 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,900 in September 2000, before rising to 685,800 in October 2001. The trend then fell to 532,200 in January 2005, before rising to 548,600 in December 2005. Since then, the trend has fallen to stand at 516,100 in September 2006.

Graph: Unemployed persons



UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose from 8.3% in September 1996 to 8.4% in February 1997, before falling to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend fell to 5.1% in July 2005. The trend rose slightly to 5.2% in December 2005, before falling to stand at 4.8% in September 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS TREND ESTIMATES


UNEMPLOYED MALES LOOKING FOR FULL-TIME WORK


TOTAL

The trend estimate of males looking for full-time work generally fell from 394,700 in September 1996 to 288,000 in June 2000. The trend estimate then rose to 329,800 in October 2001, before generally falling to 221,100 in May 2005. The trend estimate then rose to 236,500 in December 2005, and has since fallen to stand at 217,700 in September 2006.

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



MALES AGED 15-19 YEARS

The trend estimate of males aged 15 to 19 years looking for full-time work generally fell from 53,500 in September 1996 to 34,000 in July 2000. The trend then rose to 45,500 in September 2001, before generally falling to 34,300 in March 2005. The trend estimate has since remained relatively constant and stands at 35,600 in September 2006.

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



MALES AGED 20 YEARS AND OVER

The trend estimate of males aged 20 years and over looking for full-time work generally fell from 341,200 in September 1996 to 253,900 in June 2000, before rising to 284,700 in October 2001. The trend estimate then generally fell to 186,200 in May 2005, before rising to 199,500 in December 2005. The trend estimate has since fallen to stand at 182,100 in September 2006.

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 generally fell from 217,200 in September 1996 to 152,800 in September 2000, before rising to 188,900 in October 2001. The trend then fell to 172,100 in June 2002, before rising to 181,800 in May 2003. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 145,000 in September 2006.

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



FEMALES AGED 15-19 YEARS

The trend estimate of females aged 15 to 19 years looking for full-time work generally fell from 37,700 in September 1996 to a low of 24,100 in October 2000. The trend then rose to 31,500 in September 2001, before generally falling to 25,600 in July 2003. The trend then rose to 29,900 in April 2004, before generally falling to stand at 26,600 in September 2006.

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



FEMALES AGED 20 YEARS AND OVER

The trend estimate of females aged 20 years and over looking for full-time work rose from 179,500 in September 1996 to 189,000 in April 1997, before generally falling to 128,300 in September 2000. The trend then rose to 157,600 in November 2001 before falling to 144,500 in June 2002. The trend then rose to 155,400 in June 2003 before generally falling to stand at 118,400 in September 2006.

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