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FEATURE ARTICLE - Children living without an employed parent
FEATURE ARTICLE - Labour Force Survey Regions
FEATURE ARTICLE - Spotlight on Industrial Disputes
FEATURE ARTICLE - Labour Underutilisation


NOTES

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

The Labour Market Summary table now contains all five annual labour underutilisation rates. Table 4.1 has also been revised, with the addition of the underemployment rate.

DATA CONTAINED IN THIS ISSUE

The statistics shown are the latest available at 24 June 2004. Data sources for the tables in this publication are listed in Appendix 1.

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

The spreadsheets and data cubes referenced in this publication are available on the ABS web site. To find them, go to the home page and follow the links to Data cubes and Time Series Spreadsheets.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Tracey Chester on Canberra (02) 6252 7636.

For email enquiries, please contact Client Services on client.services@abs.gov.au.

LABOUR MARKET SUMMARY


KEY MEASURES

						% change from
Measure			Series type	Period	Current figure	Previous quarter(a)	Previous year(b)
Employed
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2004	9,669.5	0.7	2.4
	Full-time	'000	Trend	May 2004	6,913.5	0.6	2.8
	Part-time	'000	Trend	May 2004	2,756.0	0.9	1.4
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	May 2004	28.5	(c)0.1	(c)-0.3
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2004	569.3	-2.0	-8.8
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	May 2004	420.7	-0.8	-9.9
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	May 2004	148.6	-5.0	-5.6
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	May 2004	5.6	(c)-0.1	(c)-0.6
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	May 2004	117.8	-2.7	-11.9
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	May 2004	20.7	(c)-0.2	(c)-0.7
Annual labour underutilisation rates(d)
	Long-term unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2003	1.3	na	(c)-0.1
	Unemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2003	5.9	na	(c)-0.5
	Underemployment rate	%	Original	Sep 2003	5.6	na	(c)-0.2
	Labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2003	11.5	na	(c)-0.6
	Extended labour force underutilisation rate	%	Original	Sep 2003	12.5	na	(c)-0.7
Children living in families where no parent is employed(e)		%	Original	Jun 2003	17.2	na	(c)-0.7
Labour force participation rate
	Persons	%	Trend	May 2004	63.7	(c)0.1	(c)0.1
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	May 2004	334.0	-0.7	2.0
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	May 2004	34.6	-1.8	0.0
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	May 2004	42.0	-0.8	-0.2
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	May 2004	16.5	-2.3	0.7
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	May 2004	25.7	(c)-0.8	(c)0.1
Wage cost index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Mar qtr 2004	123.7	0.9	3.7
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	Feb 2004	948.00	1.0	4.9
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	Feb 2004	752.30	1.2	5.3
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Mar qtr 2004	95,411	1.4	5.4
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis - nominal) per week	$	Trend	Mar qtr 2004	896	0.9	3.9
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Mar qtr 2004	76.8	-49.3	15.9
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Mar qtr 2004	9.3	-49.7	14.7
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	105.5	0.8	0.0
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 - 1994-2003

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

ABS EMAIL NOTIFICATION SERVICE

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IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER ASSISTED INTERVIEWING

In October 2003, the ABS began the progressive implementation of computer assisted interviewing (CAI) into the LFS. For the period October 2003 to January 2004, CAI was used on a random 10% sub-sample of interviews. The proportion of survey interviews conducted using CAI has since increased to 40% across Australia in April and May 2004, and 70% in June 2004.

Implementation of CAI is not expected to affect published estimates in any meaningful way. Nonetheless, the ABS is monitoring the situation carefully and has conducted a range of analyses on each month's data. These analyses have confirmed that any effect that the change in interview method may have had on survey responses to date has not materially affected labour force estimates for any month.

NATIONAL STATISTICAL SERVICE WEBSITE

The National Statistical Service (NSS) is an ABS-led initiative which supports the whole of government approach to the management of statistical information. As part of this initiative, a new web site <http://www.nss.gov.au> has been released to assist agencies in applying sound statistical and data management principles and practices. The web site provides a core set of resources, including:

• NSS Handbook and Key Principles (providing an overview of the statistical process for collection managers, designers, or users of statistical products)
• directories of statistical sources
• published Information Development Plans
• statistical training offered by government agencies
• papers on statistical best practice
• concepts, classifications and data dictionaries.

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES STATISTICS

A number of changes to the release of industrial disputes statistics were introduced with the release of Industrial Disputes, Australia (Electronic Publication) (cat. no. 6321.0.55.001) for the March quarter 2004 on 17 June 2004, including a move from a monthly to a quarterly release. These changes follow a review of the Industrial Disputes collection, and consultation with users. More information is available in the short article on Industrial Disputes statistics included in the spotlight section of this publication, and through the link on the Labour Theme Page.

MAJOR LABOUR COSTS

The 2002-03 Major Labour Costs survey provides statistics on the main costs incurred by private and public sector organisations as a consequence of employing labour. The survey collected data on the following labour costs for the financial year 2002-03: employee earnings (net of reimbursements from government); superannuation; payroll tax; workers compensation; and fringe benefits tax.

Survey results were released on 11 June 2004 in Labour Costs, Australia (cat. no. 6348.0.55.001), an electronic publication available free of charge on the ABS web site. An article on the survey results is included in the recent release section of this publication.

SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEYS ON LABOUR TOPICS

The Monthly Population Survey comprises the Labour Force Survey and a number of supplementary surveys, which provide detailed information on a range of topics. Results from surveys on labour-related topics recently released include Working Arrangements, Australia (cat. no. 6342.0), and Characteristics of Small Business, Australia (cat. no. 8127.0). These releases are outlined in the recent release section of this publication.

Recent and upcoming statistical releases
Release date/title of publication		Reference period	Catalogue number
June 2004
	Industrial Disputes, Australia (Electronic Publication)	March quarter 2004	6321.0.55.001
	Labour Costs, Australia	2002-03	6348.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia	May 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	May 2004	6291.0.55.001
	National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey	2002	4714.0
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	March quarter 2004	6248.0.55.001
	Working Arrangements, Australia	November 2003	6342.0
July 2004
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	July 2004	6105.0
	Family Characteristics	June 2003	4442.0
	Job Vacancies, Australia	May 2004	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	June 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	June 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Occasional Paper: Perspectives on Women's Employment in Regional Australia, 2001 Census	2001	1380.0.55.001
August 2004
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	May 2003	6302.0
	Labour Force, Australia	July 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	July 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Mobility	February 2004	6209.0
	Wage Cost Index, Australia	June quarter 2004	6345.0
September 2004
	Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia	2002-03	6523.0
	Industrial Disputes, Australia	June quarter 2004	6321.0.55.001
	Information Paper: Persons in Own Business, Experimental Estimates for Small Areas	1996-97 to 2000-01	6225.0
	Job Vacancies, Australia	August 2004	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	August 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	August 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	June quarter 2004	6248.0.55.001
October 2004
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	October 2004	6105.0
	Labour Force, Australia	September 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	September 2004	6291.0.55.001