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The labour force participation rate is the proportion of the population aged 15 and over who are in the labour force (either employed or unemployed).

In 2003-04 the annual average labour force participation rate for all persons in Tasmania was 59.0%, up slightly from the 2002-03 figure of 58.5%. In 2003-04, the male participation rate was 66.8% and the female participation rate was 51.5%.

The monthly average number of people employed in Tasmania stood at 210,100 in 2003-04. At the same time the unemployment rate was 6.9%.

Males make up the majority of those employed, with an average 115,300 males in some form of employment in 2003-04, some 54.9% of all those employed. The unemployment rate for females in 2003-04 was 6.1%, some 1.5% percentage points lower than the equivalent rate for males of 7.6%.

CIVILIAN LABOUR FORCE STATUS(a), Tasmania: Annual average(b)
	Employed	Unemployed	Unemployment rate	Participation rate	Civilian population aged 15 and over
Years	'000	'000	%	%	'000
MALES
1999-2000	110.6	11.7	9.6	67.6	180.9
2000-01	111.2	12.1	9.8	68.0	181.4
2001-02	109.4	12.1	10.0	66.7	182.3
2002-03	111.0	11.6	9.5	66.6	184.1
2003-04	115.3	9.4	7.6	66.8	186.7
FEMALES
1999-2000	88.7	7.3	7.6	50.5	190.0
2000-01	89.4	6.9	7.2	50.5	190.7
2001-02	88.9	7.3	7.6	50.2	191.6
2002-03	90.4	7.7	7.9	50.8	193.3
2003-04	94.9	6.2	6.1	51.5	196.0
PERSONS
1999-2000	199.3	19.0	8.7	58.9	370.9
2000-01	200.6	19.1	8.7	59.0	372.1
2001-02	198.4	19.4	8.9	58.3	373.9
2002-03	201.4	19.4	8.8	58.5	377.4
2003-04	210.1	15.6	6.9	59.0	382.8
(a) Persons aged 15 years and over. (b) Averages calculated on monthly original estimates. Source: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed - Electronic Delivery, Monthly (cat. no. 6295.0.55.001).