1367.5 - Western Australian Statistical Indicators, Jun 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/07/2009   
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Contents >> Employment and earnings >> Labour Force Status

LABOUR FORCE STATUS

  • Western Australia's unemployment rate (trend) grew from 2.7% in September 2008, the lowest on record, to 5.0% in May 2009. It is the first time the state's unemployment rate has reached 5.0% since July 2004.
  • In May 2009, Western Australia had the third lowest unemployment rate of all the states and territories. At that time, the Australian Capital Territory had the lowest rate (3.3%) followed by Northern Territory (3.9%) while the national unemployment rate was 5.7%.
  • The number of unemployed persons (trend) in May 2009 grew for the eighth successive month to 61,200 persons.
Unemployment rate
Graph: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

  • In trend terms, the total number of employed persons in Western Australia was estimated at 1,167,500 in May 2009, after peaking at 1,176,200 in October 2008. In the six months to April 2009, the number employed fell by 0.8% to 1,166,900 persons. The slight increase in the May estimate (600 persons) was the first monthly increase since October 2008.
  • Despite recent falls in the monthly employment figure, the number of people employed in Western Australia in May 2009 was 1.9% higher than in May 2008.
Employed persons, Total
Graph: EMPLOYED PERSONS, Total

1 Labour Force Status (Aged 15 Years and Over), by Sex: Trend
Employed
Unemployed
Labour force(a)
Participation rate
Unemployment rate
Month
'000
'000
'000
%
%
Persons
2008
May
1 145.9
37.7
1 183.6
68.5
3.2
June
1 151.6
37.1
1 188.6
68.6
3.1
July
1 159.2
35.8
1 195.0
68.9
3.0
August
1 167.1
34.3
1 201.4
69.1
2.9
September
1 173.1
33.1
1 206.3
69.2
2.7
October
1 176.2
33.3
1 209.5
69.3
2.8
November
1 176.0
35.4
1 211.4
69.2
2.9
December
1 173.5
39.3
1 212.8
69.1
3.2
2009
January
1 170.7
44.4
1 215.0
69.0
3.6
February
1 168.6
49.6
1 218.2
69.1
4.1
March
1 167.4
54.3
1 221.7
69.1
4.4
April
1 166.9
58.4
1 225.3
69.2
4.8
May
1 167.5
61.2
1 228.7
69.2
5.0
(a) Discrepancies may occur between sums of component items and totals due to rounding.
Source: Labour Force, Australia, cat. no. 6202.0.



To view Excel spreadsheet: Labour Force Status








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