1387.3 - Queensland in Review, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/03/2004  Ceased
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Contents >> Economic Characteristics of Population >> Employment >> Unemployment in Queensland (1962-2002)

Links to ABS publications mentioned in the text can be found under 'Other Related Articles' at the bottom of the page.


UNEMPLOYMENT TO JUNE 2002

Unemployment is a widely used measure of underutilised labour resources and economic hardship among the population.

Broadly, persons are considered to be unemployed if they satisfy three criteria - not employed, available for work and taking active steps to find work. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force, indicating the extent to which people who would like to work cannot find employment.


UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, QUEENSLAND - Trend Series

Graph - Unemployment Rate, Queensland, trend series, 1982-2002
Source: Labour Force, Selected Summary Tables, Australia (cat. no. 6291.0.40.001)


The trend estimate of the number of unemployed persons in Queensland was 140,400 in June 2002, an unemployment rate of 7.4%. Unemployed females accounted for 7.9% of the Australian workforce and unemployed males for 7.1%.

During the previous twenty years, the unemployment rate initially rose to 10.5% in June 1983 then gradually decreased to 6.5% in June 1989. Unemployment rose again to over 10% during 1992-1993 and has since gradually declined, to 7.4% in June 2002.

Although unemployment was higher for females prior to 1990, more recently the female unemployment rate has generally not been as high as the male rate. However, in June 2002, the unemployment rate for males decreased to 7.1%, while the female unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.9%.


YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

In June 2002, the unemployment rate for 15-19-year olds was 18.6% and for 20-24-year olds it was 11.7%; that is, 18.6% of 15-19-year olds and 11.7% of the 20-24-year olds in the Queensland labour force reported that they were looking for work.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, Queensland

GRAPH - YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, QUEENSLAND, 1982 TO 2002
Source: Labour Force, Selected Summary Tables, Australia (cat. no. 6291.0.40.001)



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