Data from the monthly Labour Force Survey are released in two stages. The Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) and Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003) are part of the second release, and include detailed data not contained in the Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) product set, which is released one week earlier.
The Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) is released monthly. Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003) includes data only collected in February, May, August and November (including industry and occupation).
Since these products are based on the same data as the Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) publication, the 6202.0 Labour Force, Australia Explanatory Notes are relevant to both releases.
FORTHCOMING IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CONTENT OF THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY
The ABS is planning a number of improvements to the content of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and labour supplementary surveys. The article featured in the Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) January 2013 issue provides an update on these forthcoming improvements and outlines an updated timetable for their implementation.
ELECTRONIC COLLECTION OF LABOUR FORCE DATA
The ABS has been undertaking a trial of on-line electronic data collection of labour force data from households since December 2012. The trial is being conducted on one rotation group (i.e. one-eighth of the survey sample) and respondents were offered the option of completing the survey on-line instead of a face-to-face or telephone interview. The uptake in January was 23.2% of the rotation group (2.9% of the total labour force survey sample).
The trial will continue for a number of months prior to a decision on rolling out progressively to the full Labour Force Survey sample.
IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON JANUARY LABOUR FORCE SURVEY
The floods in Queensland and the fires in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania resulted in some minor sample loss for January 2013 but there were no observable impacts on the data.
SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT TO AGGREGATE HOURS WORKED
Interviews for the January 2013 Labour Force Survey commenced Sunday January 6, that is, earlier than when interviews were generally conducted for the month of January. The reference period for the Labour Force Survey is the week prior to interview. As the reference period for January 2013 survey included both New Year's Eve and New Year's day for the first time in the Labour Force Survey, there will be some seasonal impact of these holiday effects on the hours worked data. There were no observable impacts on the other Labour Force series.
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