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FEATURE ARTICLE - JOB SEARCH EXPERIENCE: METHODS AND BARRIERS IN FINDING JOBS
FEATURE ARTICLE - SPOTLIGHT ON COUNTRY OF BIRTH
FEATURE ARTICLE -SPOTLIGHT ON METHODS OF SETTING PAY
FEATURE ARTICLE - SPOTLIGHT ON MULTIPLE JOB HOLDERS
FEATURE ARTICLE - SPOTLIGHT ON OCCUPATION
FEATURE ARTICLE - SPOTLIGHT ON PARENTAL LEAVE
FEATURE ARTICLE - TECHNICAL REPORT: IMPROVEMENTS TO LABOUR FORCE ESTIMATES
FEATURE ARTICLE - TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP


Notes

Changes in this issue

Labour Force Survey estimates for prior periods have been revised using updated population benchmarks based on results from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing, and incorporating a minor change to the definition of unemployed persons. See Technical Report: Improvements to labour force estimates in this issue.

Data contained in this issue

The statistics shown are the latest available at 22 March 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 at https://www.abs.gov.au. 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 Erika Maxim 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 2004	9,580.9	0.5	1.2
	Full-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	6,858.8	0.5	1.8
	Part-time	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	2,722.1	0.3	-0.2
	Part-time employment as a proportion of total employment	%	Trend	Feb 2004	28.4	(c)0.0	(c)-0.4
Unemployed
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	585.8	-0.2	-6.4
	Looking for full-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	424.2	-1.2	-9.2
	Looking for part-time work	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	161.7	2.4	2.0
Unemployment rate
	Persons	%	Trend	Feb 2004	5.8	(c)0.0	(c)-0.4
Long-term unemployment
	Persons	'000	Trend	Feb 2004	120.7	-2.2	-10.5
	As a proportion of total unemployment	%	Trend	Feb 2004	20.6	(c)-0.4	(c)-0.9
Labour force underutilisation rate(d)		%	Original	Sep 2002	11.9	na	(c)-0.6
Extended labour force underutilisation rate(d)		%	Original	Sep 2002	13.0	na	(c)-0.6
Proportion of children living in families where no parent is employed (of all children)(e)		%	Original	Jun 2003	17.2	na	(c)-0.7
Labour force participation rate
	Persons	%	Trend	Feb 2004	63.5	(c)0.0	(c)-0.5
Actual hours worked
	Aggregate weekly hours	mill. hours	Original	Feb 2004	336.4	1.7	1.2
	Average weekly hours - Persons	hours	Original	Feb 2004	35.3	1.7	0.3
	Average weekly hours - Full-time	hours	Original	Feb 2004	42.3	1.0	-0.1
	Average weekly hours - Part-time	hours	Original	Feb 2004	16.9	2.6	2.3
Part-time workers
	Proportion who preferred to work more hours	%	Original	Feb 2004	26.5	(c)-1.0	(c)-1.3
Wage cost index
	Total hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses	index no.	Trend	Dec qtr 2003	122.6	0.9	3.6
Average weekly earnings
	Full-time adult ordinary time earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2003	939.60	1.1	5.7
	All employees total earnings	$	Trend	Nov 2003	744.50	1.3	5.6
Compensation of employees
	Household income account	$m	Trend	Dec qtr 2003	93,763	1.0	5.3
	Average earnings (National Accounts basis - nominal) per week	$	Trend	Dec qtr 2003	887	1.0	3.5
Industrial disputes
	Working days lost	'000	Original	Dec qtr 2003	151.4	-8.9	117.5
	Working days lost per 1,000 employees	number	Original	Dec qtr 2003	18.2	-9.8	119.6
Job vacancies
	Australia	'000	Trend	Nov 2003	104.6	-0.6	1.2
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) Children are aged under 15 years. See the Explanatory Notes for information on family data.

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—1994–2002

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

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.

Changes to LFS unit record data

The ABS introduced a number of changes to labour force statistics with the release of February 2004 LFS data. These changes involved revisions to detailed original data at the unit record level which flowed through to published aggregated data. More information about these changes is available in Technical Report: Improvements to labour force estimates in this publication.

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 the CAI method was used on a random 10% sub-sample of survey interviews. The ABS had planned to increase the sub-sample of survey interviews conducted using the CAI method from 10% to 40% in February 2004. However, a number of technical problems have prevented this. The CAI sub-sample was increased from 10% to 40% in February 2004 in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory only. The effects of these technical problems may delay the full implementation of CAI.

Once the technical problems are resolved, subject to further analysis continuing to confirm that the change in method is not having a significant impact on survey estimates, the ABS intends to progressively increase the use of CAI. Users will continue to be informed of the progress of CAI implementation, including the results of further analyses, through updates in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

Forthcoming changes to industrial disputes statistics

The December 2003 issue of Industrial Disputes, Australia (cat. no. 6321.0) is the final release of monthly statistics of industrial disputes. Statistics in this publication will continue to be available, but for a quarterly reference period. The printed publication will be replaced with a quarterly electronic publication (cat. no. 6321.0.55.001), commencing with the March quarter 2004 reference period. The quarterly publication will contain a small number of summary tables and will be available free from the ABS web site. More detailed data will continue to be available as electronic spreadsheets.

New classifications for Cause of Dispute and Reason Work Resumed (formerly Method of Settlement) will be introduced in the first quarterly publication. Data for the new classifications will be available for disputes which ended during the March quarter 2003 onwards. Further information is available from Colin Fallows on Perth 08 9360 5184.

Labour Costs

Results from the 2002-03 Survey of Major Labour Costs will be released in June 2004, in the electronic publication Labour Costs, Australia (cat. no. 6348.0.55.001). This survey provides estimates of labour costs including: employee earnings, employer-funded contributions to superannuation, workers' compensation, payroll tax and fringe benefits tax.

Regional wage and salary earner statistics

The electronic publication Characteristics of Wage and Salary Earners in Regions of Australia (cat. no. 6261.0.55.001) was released on 5 March 2004. This publication presents regional estimates of the characteristics of wage and salary earners for 2000-01 using the Remoteness Structure contained within the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), Volume 1, 2001 (cat. no. 1216.0). The estimates were compiled from the Australian Taxation Office's Individual Income Tax Return Database. This publication follows the release in December of Regional Wage and Salary Earner Statistics, Australia (cat. no. 5673.0.55.001), which used the same data source to produce estimates for wage and salary earners for Local Government Areas for 2000-01.

Supplementary surveys on labour topics

The Monthly Population Survey comprises the Labour Force Survey and supplementary surveys, which provide detailed information on a range of topics. Results from surveys on labour-related topics recently released were: Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (cat. no. 6310.0); Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6220.0); Underemployed Workers, Australia (cat. no. 6265.0); and Job Search Experience, Australia (cat. no. 6222.0). The first three of these releases are outlined in the recent release section of this publication. Also included is a feature article highlighting the data available from the Job Search Experience survey.

Upcoming statistical releases
Release date/title of publication		Reference period	Catalogue number
April 2004
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	April 2004	6105.0
	Indigenous Social Survey	2002	4714.0
	Job Vacancies, Australia	February 2004	6354.0
	Labour Force, Australia	March 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	March 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Measures of Australia's Progress	2004	1370.0
May 2004
	Average Weekly Earnings, Australia	November 2003	6302.0
	Labour Force, Australia	April 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	April 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Labour Statistics in Brief, Australia	2004	6104.0
	Wage Cost Index, Australia	March quarter 2004	6345.0
June 2004
	Industrial Disputes, Australia - electronic release	December 2003	6321.0.55.001
	Labour Costs, Australia - electronic release	2002-03	6348.0.55.001
	Labour Force, Australia	May 2004	6202.0
	Labour Force, Australia - Detailed Delivery	May 2004	6291.0.55.001
	Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector, Australia	March quarter 2004	6248.0.55.001
July 2004
	Australian Labour Market Statistics	July 2004	6105.0
	Family Characteristics	June 2003	4442.0
	Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia	2002-03	6523.0
	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