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

FREE DATA ON THE WEB

The entire content of the ABS web site became accessible free of charge from Monday 12 December 2005. This follows all ABS publications becoming accessible free of charge on 1 July 2005. A web page with more information is now available: <https://www.abs.gov.au/about/ABS pricing policy>.

CHANGE OF CATALOGUE NUMBER

From the February 2006 issue, the quarterly components of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery will be released under a new product number (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003). The monthly component will remain the same at 6291.0.55.001, with the annual data available under 6224.0.55.001.

TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP

A datacube (spreadsheet) containing historical trade union membership data cross-classified with sex and state; sex and age; and sex and industry, is now available. To find the spreadsheet, go to the ABS web site and click on 'Access to all ABS products and statistics' and search by catalogue number. The datacube <63100_Trade Union_Aug 2005.xls> is listed under the details tab for Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2005 (cat. no. 6310.0).

MULTI PURPOSE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

The Multi Purpose Household Survey was introduced in 2004-05. This survey provides statistics annually for a number of small, self-contained topics, including labour topics. Two labour-related topics were conducted in 2004-05: a topic on retirement and a topic covering labour force participation. Retirement and Retirement Intentions (cat. no. 6238.0) and Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation (cat. no. 6239.0) were released on 6 February 2006. See the Recent Releases in this issue for more details.

SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEYS ON LABOUR TOPICS

The Monthly Population Survey comprises the Labour Force Survey and a range of supplementary surveys, which provide detailed information on a range of topics. Results from surveys on labour-related topics recently released include: Persons not in the Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6220.0); Underemployed Workers, Australia (cat. no. 6265.0); and Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (cat. no. 6310.0). The results of these surveys are outlined in the Recent Releases section in this issue.

UPDATE OF THE ANNUAL MEASURES OF LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION

The annual measures of labour underutilisation have now been updated for 2005. The data for the annual headcount measures are presented in tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of this publication. The experimental volume measures are presented in the spotlight section of this publication. A spreadsheet containing the headcount measures is available from the ABS web site. To find the spreadsheet go to <http:/www.abs.gov.au> [Statistics - By Catalogue Number - 6. Labour Statistics and Prices - 61. Labour statistics - general]. The spreadsheet is listed under the Details tab in this April 2006 issue of Australian Labour Market Statistics (cat. no. 6105.0).

ABS EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE

By subscribing to this free service, you will be kept informed via email of the latest releases of ABS products. To subscribe, follow the link from the ABS home page <https://www.abs.gov.au>, provide your email address, and select your topics of interest.

Recent and upcoming statistical releases
Release date/title of publication		Reference period	Catalogue number
March 2006
	Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia	August 2005	6310.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	December quarter 2005	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	February 2006	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	February 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	February 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	February 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia	September 2005	6220.0
	Underemployed Workers, Australia	September 2005	6265.0
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	December quarter 2005	6248.0.55.001
April 2006
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	April 2006	6105.0
	Characteristics of Small Business, Australia	2005	8127.0
	Labour Force, Australia	March 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	March 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Measures of Australia's Progress	2006	1370.0
	Survey of Education and Work, Australia, Confidentialised Unit Record File on CD-ROM	May 2005	6227.0.30.001
	Survey of Education and Work, Australia, Confidentialised Unit Record File, Technical Paper	May 2005	6227.0.30.002
May 2006
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	February 2006	6302.0
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing - Confidentialised Unit Record Files	2003-04	6540.0
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing - Confidentialised Unit Record Files, Technical Paper	2003-04	6540.0.00.001
	Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide	2003-04	6503.0
	Labour Force, Australia	April 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	April 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, Experimental Estimates from the Labour Force Survey	2005	6287.0
	Labour Price Index, Australia	March quarter 2006	6345.0
	Labour Statistics in Brief, Australia	2006	6104.0
	Locations of Work, Australia	Nov 2005	6275.0
	Multi-Purpose Household Survey 2004-05, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File	2004-05	4100.0.55.001
	Multi-Purpose Household Survey 2004-05, Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File, Technical Paper	2004-05	4100.0
June 2006
	Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register, Counts of Businesses - Summary Tables	June 2005	8161.0.55.001
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	March quarter 2006	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	May 2006	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	May 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	May 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Quarterly	May 2006	6291.0.55.003
	Labour Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods	2005	6351.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	March quarter 2006	6248.0.55.001
July 2006
	ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations	2006	1220.0
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	July 2006	6105.0
	Australian Social Trends	2006	4102.0
	Labour Force, Australia	June 2006	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery, Monthly	June 2006	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia: Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families - Electronic delivery	June 2006	6224.0.55.001

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

The spreadsheets and data cubes referenced in this publication are available on the ABS web site at <https://www.abs.gov.au> [Access to all ABS products & statistics - By Catalogue Number - 62. Labour Force], then [6291.0.55.001 for data cubes] or [6291.0.40.001 for spreadsheets].

INQUIRIES

For information about other Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistics and services, please refer to the back of this publication.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Assistant Director, Labour Market Statistics on Canberra (02) 6252 7636.

LABOUR MARKET SUMMARY


KEY MEASURES

						% change from
Measure			Series type	Period	Current figure	Previous quarter(a)	Previous year(b)
Employed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	10 041.2	0.1	1.4
	Full-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	7 172.2	0.4	1.4
	Part-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	2 868.9	-0.5	1.4
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	Feb 2006	28.6	(c)-0.2	(c)0.0
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	554.2	1.7	3.9
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	393.4	1.8	3.1
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	160.8	1.3	5.7
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	Feb 2006	5.2	(c)0.1	(c)0.1
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	101.4	3.8	4.2
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	Feb 2006	18.3	(c)0.4	(c)0.0
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
	Long-term unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	0.9	na	(c)-0.3
	Unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.1	na	(c)-0.4
	Underemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	5.3	na	(c)-0.2
	Labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	10.5	na	(c)-0.6
	Extended labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2005	11.4	na	(c)-0.7
Children living without an employed parent(e)		%	Original	Jun 2005	14.9	na	(c)-2.3
Labour force participation rate
	Persons aged 15-64 years	%	Original	Feb 2006	76.0	(c)0.9	(c)0.5
	Total	%	Trend	Feb 2006	64.4	(c)-0.1	(c)0.2
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	Feb 2006	349.3	1.9	0.5
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	Feb 2006	34.8	1.7	-1.1
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	Feb 2006	41.7	0.9	-1.1
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	Feb 2006	16.8	1.9	-0.7
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	Feb 2006	25.4	(c)0.5	(c)-0.9
Wage price index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Dec qtr 2005	107.5	1.0	4.2
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2005	1 029.50	1.0	5.5
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2005	810.60	0.9	5.4
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Dec qtr 2005	113 285	1.8	7.5
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis nominal) per week	$	Trend	Dec qtr 2005	987	1.4	4.4
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Dec qtr 2005	81.0	64.1	56.0
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Dec qtr 2005	9.3	61.9	51.8
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	Feb 2006	137.6	0.0	-3.4
na not available
(a) Same period previous quarter (monthly data is presented for the middle month of each quarter).
(b) Same period previous year.
(c) Change is in percentage points.
(d) See table 4.1 or the Glossary for further explanation of labour underutilisation rates.
(e) As a proportion of all children aged under 15 years. See the Explanatory Notes for information on family data.

EMPLOYMENT: TREND SERIES

Full-time and total employment

Males and females

Proportion of total employment, Males

Proportion of total employment, Females

Males and females

Proportion of total unemployment

Labour underutilisation rates - 1995-2005

Persons

Males

Females

Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Quarterly change

Full-time adult ordinary time earnings, Quarterly change

All employees total earnings, Level

Working days lost, Quarter ending

Job vacancies, By sector