6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Feb 2005

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 10/03/2005

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Main Features
About this Release

FEBRUARY KEY FIGURES

		Jan 2005	Feb 2005	Jan 05 to Feb 05		Feb 04 to Feb 05

Trend
	Employed persons ('000)	9,857.9	9,881.3	23.4		3.0	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	529.4	526.2	-3.2		-9.4	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.1	0.0	pts	-0.7	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.0	64.1	0.1	pts	0.5	pts
Seasonally Adjusted
	Employed persons ('000)	9,869.7	9,889.7	20.0		3.4	%
	Unemployed persons ('000)	531.9	533.0	1.1		-10.4	%
	Unemployment rate (%)	5.1	5.1	0.0	pts	-0.7	pts
	Participation rate (%)	64.1	64.1	0.1	pts	0.7	pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate

FEBRUARY KEY POINTS

TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT increased to 9,881,300
UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 526,200
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 5.1%
PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 64.1%

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT

increased by 20,000 to 9,889,700. Full-time employment increased by 37,900 to 7,079,600 while part-time employment decreased by 17,900 to 2,810,100.

UNEMPLOYMENT

increased by 1,100 to 533,000. The number of persons looking for full-time work decreased by 4,500 to 381,200 while the number of persons looking for part-time work increased by 5,600 to 151,800.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

remained at 5.1%. The male unemployment rate remained at 4.9% while the female unemployment rate increased marginally to 5.4%.

PARTICIPATION RATE

increased slightly, but the rounded estimate remained at 64.1%.

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 January and February 2005

	Monthly change	95% Confidence interval


Total Employment	20,000	-17,400	to	57,400
Total Unemployment	1,100	-12,700	to	14,900
Unemployment rate	0.0 pts	-0.2 pts	to	0.2 pts
Participation rate	0.1 pts	-0.1 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 Erika Maxim on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.

PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES

EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons generally rose from 8,151,800 in February 1995 to 9,055,400 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,034,700 in January 2001, before rising to 9,460,200 in March 2003. The trend then fell for three months before rising to stand at 9,881,300 in February 2005.

UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 728,100 in July 1995 to 771,800 in February 1997. The trend then fell to 583,300 in September 2000 before rising to 685,100 in October 2001. The trend has since generally fallen to stand at 526,200 in February 2005.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

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

STATES TREND ESTIMATES

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

NEW SOUTH WALES

The trend unemployment rate for New South Wales rose slowly from 7.4% in November 1995 to 7.7% in April 1997, before falling to 5.3% in August 2000. The trend rate then rose to 6.5% in November 2001, before generally falling to stand at 5.2% in February 2005.

VICTORIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Victoria decreased from 9.1% in February 1995 to 8.2% in May 1996. The trend then rose to 8.9% in November 1996, before falling steadily to 5.8% in October 2000. The trend then rose to 6.7% in November 2001, before generally declining to 5.5% in February 2005.

QUEENSLAND

The trend unemployment rate for Queensland rose from 8.4% in February 1995 to 9.5% in February 1997, before generally falling to 7.3% in August 2000. After rising to 8.7% in May 2001, the trend rate has since fallen and stands at 4.6% in February 2005.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The trend unemployment rate for South Australia declined from 9.7% in February 1995 to 8.9% in June 1996. The trend then rose slowly to 9.8% in July 1998 before generally falling to stand at 5.3% in February 2005.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Western Australia rose from 7.0% in July 1995 to 7.5% in July 1996, before generally falling to 5.8% in August 2000. The trend then rose sharply to 7.4% in June 2001 before falling to 4.5% in February 2005.

TASMANIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Tasmania fell from 10.5% in February 1995 to 9.1% in September 1995. After rising to 10.9% in October 1997, the trend generally fell to 8.6% in September 1999. Apart from a rise in 2001 the trend estimate remained relatively steady until 2003. The trend has since fallen from 9.1% in January 2003 to 5.4% in February 2005.