6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, May 2006

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/06/2006

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Main Features
About this Release

MAY KEY FIGURES

		Apr 2006	May 2006	Apr 06 to May 06		May 05 to May 06

Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	10 099.1	10 114.1	15.0		1.2	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	537.0	532.6	-4.3		-0.3	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.0	5.0	0.0	pts	-0.1	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.4	64.5	0.0	pts	-0.1	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	10 086.3	10 142.2	56.0		1.7	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	541.8	521.3	-20.5		-3.3	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	4.9	-0.2	pts	-0.2	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.4	64.5	0.1	pts	0.1	pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate

MAY KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,114,100
UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 532,600
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 5.0%
PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 64.5%

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT

increased by 56,000 to 10,142,200. Full-time employment increased by 55,800 to 7,254,000 and part-time employment increased slightly to 2,888,200.

UNEMPLOYMENT

decreased by 20,500 to 521,300. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased by 5,700 to 371,700 while the number of persons looking for part-time work decreased by 26,200 to 149,600.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.9%. The male unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.8% and the female unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 5.0%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

increased by 0.1 percentage point to 64.5%.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE	Release Date
June 2006	13 July 2006
July 2006	10 August 2006
August 2006	7 September 2006
September 2006	12 October 2006
October 2006	9 November 2006
November 2006	7 December 2006

CYCLONE LARRY

In the aftermath of Cyclone Larry, operational difficulties continue to be experienced in conducting the monthly Labour Force Survey in parts of Queensland. Investigations were conducted to identify possible impacts on Labour Force estimates for May 2006. These investigations did not identify any material effects on the aggregate estimates for this month.

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 April and May 2006

	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval


Total Employment	56 000	4 000	to	108 000
Total Unemployment	-20 500	-48 900	to	7 900
Unemployment rate	-0.2 pts	-0.4 pts	to	0.0 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 Michael Johnson on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.

PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,357,100 in May 1996 to 9,056,800 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,300 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,114,100 in May 2006.

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 742,600 in May 1996 to 771,700 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,700 in September 2000, before rising to 685,800 in October 2001. The trend fell to 532,900 in January 2005, before rising to 548,800 in December 2005. Since then, the trend has fallen to stand at 532,600 in May 2006.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose from 8.2% in May 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 5.0% in May 2006.

EMPLOYED PERSONS TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED MALES

TOTAL

The trend estimate of employed males rose from 4,753,900 in May 1996 to 5,054,900 in September 2000, before falling to stand at 5,031,100 in March 2001. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 5,570,400 in May 2006.

MALES EMPLOYED FULL TIME

The trend estimate for males employed full time generally rose from 4,215,200 in May 1996 to 4,400,200 in August 2000, before falling to 4,334,300 in June 2001. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 4,736,000 in May 2006.

MALES EMPLOYED PART TIME

The trend estimate of males employed part time rose from 538,700 in May 1996 to 631,100 in March 1999, before falling to 613,200 in September 1999. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 834,400 in May 2006.

EMPLOYED FEMALES

TOTAL

The trend estimate of employed females rose from 3,603,200 in May 1996 to 4,240,700 in March 2003, with strong growth in late 2002. The trend estimate then fell to 4,227,800 in July 2003, before rising to stand at 4,543,800 in May 2006.

FEMALES EMPLOYED FULL TIME

The trend estimate of females employed full time generally rose from 2,067,000 in May 1996 to 2,266,600 in March 2001. The trend then fell to 2,215,500 in January 2002, before generally rising to stand at 2,485,200 in May 2006.

FEMALES EMPLOYED PART TIME

The trend estimate of females employed part time rose steadily from 1,536,200 in May 1996 to 1,952,400 in April 2003. The trend then decreased to 1,927,200 in December 2003, before rising to 2,075,600 in October 2005. Since then, the trend estimate has generally fallen to stand at 2,058,500 in May 2006.