• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

NOTES


ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

This publication presents information about the experiences of unemployed people in seeking work, in terms of the steps they have taken to find work and the difficulties they have encountered in finding work. It also presents information about employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months. For this group, data on the steps taken to attain work and current job details are provided.

Demographic information is provided about both of these groups.

The statistics in this publication were compiled from data collected in the Job Search Experience Survey, conducted throughout Australia in July 2006 as a supplement to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS).

NOTES ABOUT THE ESTIMATES

A number of new data items have been included in this survey. These are 'Status in employment in current job', 'Whether had paid leave entitlements in current job', 'Whether entitled to paid sick leave in current job' and 'Whether entitled to paid holiday leave in current job'.

The data items 'Owner manager of incorporated enterprise (OMIE) status (main job)' and 'Owner manager of incorporated enterprise (OMIE) status (current job)', which were included in the 2005 publication, have been replaced with the data items 'Employment type in main job' and 'Employment type in current job' respectively.

ROUNDING

As estimates have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Labour Market Section on Canberra (02) 6252 7206.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS


OVERVIEW

In July 2006, there were 462,000 unemployed people comprising 249,800 (54%) men and 212,200 (46%) women. This represented a 5% decrease since July 2005 and a 22% decrease since July 1999. The median duration of unemployment fell from 23 weeks in July 1999 to 12 weeks in July 2005 and increased to 15 weeks in July 2006. Almost two-thirds (60%) of unemployed people reported they were without a non-school qualification, while 10% reported a Bachelor Degree or above as their highest level of non-school qualification.

There were 1.5 million employed people who started their current job in the 12 months prior to July 2006. Two-thirds (66%) of these were working full time. Of those employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months, 56% reported they had a non-school qualification, and 21% reported a Bachelor Degree or above as their highest level of non-school qualification.

UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE

Job search experience

In July 2006, 11% of unemployed people reported their main difficulty in finding work as 'considered too young or too old by employers' followed by 'insufficient work experience' (10%), 'own ill health or disability' (9.7%) and 'too far to travel/transport problems' (9.1%). Ten percent of unemployed people reported that they had 'no difficulties at all' in finding work.

Main difficulty in finding work, By sex

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS, Steps taken to find work(a) - July 2003 to July 2006
	July 2003		July 2004		July 2005		July 2006
	'000	%	'000	%	'000	%	'000	%
Unemployed persons	564.5	100.0	528.2	100.0	484.8	100.0	462.0	100.0
Wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work	474.4	84.0	455.1	86.2	420.9	86.8	405.7	87.8
Answered an advertisement for a job in a newspaper	375.0	66.4	346.4	65.6	303.2	62.5	286.5	62.0
Answered an advertisement for a job on the internet	178.3	31.6	195.0	36.9	188.0	38.8	204.8	44.3
Contacted friends or relatives	255.1	45.2	239.7	45.4	217.4	44.8	230.8	50.0
Looked at advertisements for jobs in a newspaper	471.7	83.6	461.0	87.3	413.1	85.2	395.0	85.5
Looked at advertisements for jobs on the internet	271.9	48.2	293.8	55.6	271.7	56.0	292.2	63.3
Looked at advertisements for jobs on Centrelink touchsceens	255.0	45.2	237.1	44.9	197.5	40.7	176.1	38.1
Registered with Centrelink as a jobseeker	334.5	59.3	294.9	55.8	261.4	53.9	249.8	54.1
(a) Refers to all steps taken to find work, therefore people may appear in more than one category.

The most commonly reported steps taken to find work by unemployed people in July 2006 were 'wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work' (88%) and 'looked at advertisements for jobs in a newspaper' (85%). Other steps commonly taken to find work included 'looked at advertisements on the internet' (63%) and 'answered an advertisement for a job in a newspaper' (62%). Fifty-four percent of unemployed people stated they had 'registered with Centrelink as a job seeker'.

From July 2003 to July 2006 there was a steady increase in the percentage of unemployed people who used the internet to find work. Just under half (48%) of unemployed people in July 2003 'looked for advertisements for jobs on the internet'. This increased to 63% in July 2006, representing the largest increase in frequency of all the steps taken to find work by unemployed people from July 2003 to July 2006. Thirty-two percent of unemployed people in July 2003 'answered an advertisement for a job on the internet', which increased over time to 44% in July 2006.

Other characteristics of unemployed people in July 2006 include:

• 77% had not started any job in the previous 12 months, while 7.9% had started two jobs or more
• 79% did not receive any offers of employment during their current period of unemployment
• 21% spent the whole 12 months prior to July 2006 looking for work, of whom 82% were looking for full-time work and 18% were looking for part-time work
• 58% had last held a job for two weeks or more, less than two years ago; while 19% had never worked in a job for two weeks or more.

Duration of current period of unemployment, By whether had a non-school qualification

Older unemployed

Twenty-four percent of unemployed people were aged 45 years and over. Over three-quarters (76%) of these were looking for full-time work and 29% reported their main difficulty in finding work was 'considered too old by employers'.

The main difficulty in finding work that was given by the long-term unemployed was also 'considered too old by employers' (19%). The median duration of unemployment for those who reported they were 'considered too old by employers' was 37 weeks compared to 15 weeks for all unemployed people.

Younger unemployed

Twenty-two percent of unemployed people were aged 15-19 years. Of these, 52% were looking for full-time work and 15% reported their main difficulty in finding work was 'insufficient work experience'.

In comparison, 16% of unemployed people were aged 20-24 years. Of these, 75% were looking for full-time work and 21% reported their main difficulty in finding work was 'insufficient work experience'.

EMPLOYED PEOPLE WHO STARTED THEIR CURRENT JOB IN THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS

Of the 1.5 million employed people who started their current job in the 12 months prior to July 2006, 10% were employed in their own business and 90% were not employed in their own business. Of those who were not employed in their own business, 44% were out of work prior to starting their current job and 56% changed employer to start their current job.

All steps taken to attain a job

Of those who were out of work prior to starting their current job, 65% 'wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work'. Over half (55%) of employed people who changed employer to start their current job, also took this step to attain a job. The most common other steps taken to attain a job for people out of work prior to starting a job and people who changed employers to start their current job were:

• 'looked at advertisements for jobs in a newspaper' (52% and 39% respectively)
• 'looked at advertisements for jobs on the internet' (44% and 37% respectively)
• 'answered an advertisement for a job in a newspaper' (38% and 28% respectively).

EMPLOYED PERSONS WHO STARTED THEIR CURRENT JOB IN THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS, Steps taken to attain job(a) - July 2003 to July 2006
	July 2003		July 2004		July 2005		July 2006
	'000	%	'000	%	'000	%	'000	%
Employed persons who started their current job in the previous 12 months	1 602.8	100.0	1 554.8	100.0	1 469.9	100.0	1 480.1	100.0
Wrote, phoned or applied in person to an employer for work	747.3	46.6	782.2	50.3	788.9	53.7	788.7	53.3
Answered an advertisement for a job in a newspaper	472.7	29.5	433.2	27.9	427.1	29.1	427.3	28.9
Answered an advertisement for a job on the internet	237.3	14.8	276.1	17.8	317.3	21.6	380.6	25.7
Contacted friends or relatives	371.9	23.2	346.5	22.3	328.7	22.4	371.7	25.1
Looked at advertisements for jobs in a newspaper	592.7	37.0	594.2	38.2	570.7	38.8	595.3	40.2
Looked at advertisements for jobs on the internet	351.5	21.9	416.5	26.8	466.0	31.7	530.7	35.9
Registered with Centrelink as a jobseeker	224.0	14.0	209.6	13.5	180.0	12.2	172.9	11.7
(a) Refers to all steps taken to attain job, therefore people may appear in more than one category.

From July 2003 to July 2006 there has been a steady increase in the percentage of employed people who used the internet to attain their current job in the previous 12 months. In July 2003, 22% of employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months 'looked for advertisements for jobs on the internet' and this had increased to 36% in July 2006. This represents the largest increase in frequency, from July 2003 to July 2006, of all the steps taken by employed people to attain their current job in the previous 12 months. Fifteen percent of employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months to July 2003, 'answered an advertisement for a job on the internet', which has increased over time to 26% in July 2006.

Duration of looking for work

Over half (56%) of employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months looked for work for less than one year before being offered that job. A further 4.6% looked for work for one year or more, while 39% did not look for work at all. The median duration of looking for work before being offered their current job was 4 weeks.

Duration of looking for work before being offered job, By whether had a non-school qualification

Characteristics of current job

The majority (75%) of employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months started only one job in the previous 12 months, and most (80%) had worked before. Of the 504,200 part-time employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months, 30% were aged 15-19 years.

Of the 532,800 employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months and usually worked part-time hours, over one-third (35%) would have preferred to work more hours. Just over half (52%) of the employed people who started their current job in the 12 months to July 2006 had paid leave entitlements.

The most common occupation groups of employed people who started their current job in the previous 12 months were Intermediate clerical, sales and service workers (19%), Professionals (17%) and Elementary clerical, sales and service workers (15%). The most common occupation group for those aged:

• 15-19 years was Elementary clerical, sales and service workers (36%)
• 25-34 years was Professionals (21%)
• 55 years and over was Intermediate clerical, sales and service workers (19%)