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LABOUR STATISTICS NEWS


EMPLOYEE EARNINGS AND HOURS

Final results from the 2004 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours were released on 23 March in the publication Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0). This survey collected information from a sample of employers about the earnings, hours paid for, method of setting pay, and other selected characteristics of their employees.

Data from this survey on the methods used to set employees' pay is included in the spotlight section of this publication (see Methods of setting pay).

LABOUR THEME PAGE

The ABS Labour Theme Page, available on the ABS web site, provides a guide to the range of ABS statistics on the labour market, as well as links to the latest data released.

LONGITUDINAL CENSUS DATASET

A discussion paper on Enhancing the Population Census Dataset: Developing a Longitudinal View (cat. no. 2060.0) will be released in April 2005. This paper presents ABS views on enhancing data from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. It includes details of the proposal, reasons why the ABS is considering enhancing the population census dataset, and benefits of this dataset for statistical and research purposes. Privacy and confidentiality aspects are also discussed.

ABS is seeking the views of the public and ABS data users on this proposal, and the paper outlines the public submission process.

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: Job Search Experience, Australia (cat. no. 6222.0); 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).

UPDATED MEASURES OF LABOUR UNDERUTILISATION

The annual measures of labour underutilisation have been updated. These measures include groups of people such as the unemployed, the underemployed and discouraged jobseekers. The rates for September 2004 are included in the spotlight 'Annual measures of labour underutilisation' and in tables 4.1 and 4.2 in this publication.

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 2005
	Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia	August 2004	6310.0
	Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia	May 2004	6306.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	December quarter 2004	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	February 2005	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	February 2005	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery	February 2005	6291.0.55.001
	Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia	September 2004	6220.0
	Underemployed Workers, Australia	September 2004	6265.0
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	December quarter 2004	6248.0.55.001
April 2005
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	April 2005	6105.0
	Characteristics of Small Businesses, Australia	2004	8127.0
	Discussion Paper: Enhancing the Populatin of Census Dataset: Developing a Longitudinal View	2006	2060.0
	Labour Force, Australia	March 2005	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery	March 2005	6291.0.55.001
	Measures of Australia's Progress: Summary Indicators	2005	1383.0.55.001
May 2005
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	February 2005	6302.0
	Forms of Employment, Australia	November 2004	6359.0
	Labour Force, Australia	April 2005	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery	April 2005	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia	November 2004	6250.0
	Labour Price Index, Australia	March quarter 2005	6345.0
	Labour Statistics in Brief, Australia	2005	6104.0
	2006 Census of Population and Housing: Nature and content	2006	2008.0
June 2005
	Labour Force, Australia	May 2005	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery	May 2005	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Force Survey Standard Errors	2005	6298.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	March quarter 2005	6321.0.55.001
	Job Vacancies, Australia	May 2005	6354.0
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	March quarter 2005	6248.0.55.001
July 2005
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	July 2005	6105.0
	Australian Social Trends	2005	4102.0
	Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia	2003-04	6523.0
	Labour Force, Australia	June 2005	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery	June 2005	6291.0.55.001

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

The spreadsheets and data cubes referenced in this publication are available on the ABS web site at <https://www.abs.gov.au> [AusStats - Publications and Data], then [Data Cubes] or [Time Series 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 Section, 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 2005	9,881.3	0.9	3.0
	Full-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	7,057.5	0.8	2.8
	Part-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	2,823.8	1.1	3.5
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	Feb 2005	28.6	(c)0.1	(c)0.1
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	526.2	-2.9	-9.4
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	379.0	-1.6	-10.5
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	147.2	-6.2	-6.4
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	Feb 2005	5.1	(c)-0.2	(c)-0.7
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2005	100.4	-6.2	-17.0
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	Feb 2005	19.1	(c)-0.6	(c)-1.7
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
	Long-term unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2004	1.2	na	(c)-0.1
	Unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2004	5.5	na	(c)-0.4
	Underemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2004	5.6	na	(c) -
	Labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2004	11.1	na	(c)-0.4
	Extended labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2004	12.2	na	(c)-0.3
Children living without an employed parent(e)		%	Original	Jun 2004	17.2	na	(c)0.1
Labour force participation rate
	Persons aged 15-64 years	%	Trend	Feb 2005	75.5	(c)1.2	(c)0.7
	Total persons	%	Original	Feb 2005	64.1	(c)0.3	(c)0.5
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	Feb 2005	347.4	2.7	3.3
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	Feb 2005	35.2	1.9	-0.1
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	Feb 2005	42.2	1.1	-0.4
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	Feb 2005	17.0	2.9	0.5
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	Feb 2005	26.3	(c)0.4	(c)-0.2
Wage price index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Dec qtr 2004	103.1	0.9	3.5
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2004	973.20	1.1	3.6
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2004	766.10	1.0	3.0
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Dec qtr 2004	100,153	1.6	6.8
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis - nominal) per week	$	Trend	Dec qtr 2004	898	0.6	3.2
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Dec qtr 2004	51.9	-44.4	-65.7
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Dec qtr 2004	6.1	-46.1	-66.9
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	Nov 2004	135.8	6.1	28.7
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
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 - 1994-2004

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