Job Vacancies, Australia methodology

1 As the estimates in this release are based on information relating to a sample of employers rather than a full enumeration, they are subject to sampling variability. That is, they may differ from the estimates that would have been produced if the information had been obtained from all employers. This difference, called sampling error, should not be confused with inaccuracy that may occur because of imperfections in reporting by respondents or in processing by the ABS. Such inaccuracy is referred to as non-sampling error and may occur in any enumeration whether it be a full count or sample. Efforts have been made to reduce non-sampling error by careful design of questionnaires, detailed checking of returns and quality control of processing.

2 The sampling error associated with any estimate can be estimated from the sample results. One measure of sampling error is given by the standard error which indicates the degree to which an estimate may vary from the value which would have been obtained from a full enumeration (the ‘true value’). There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate differs from the true value by less than one standard error, and about 19 chances in 20 that the difference will be less than two standard errors.

3 An example of the use of a standard error on levels is as follows. If the estimated number of job vacancies was 25,000 with a standard error of 2,500, then there would be about two chances in three that a full enumeration would have given an estimate in the range 22,500 to 27,500 and about 19 chances in 20 that it would be in the range 20,000 to 30,000.

4 An example of the use of a standard error for a quarterly change estimate is as follows. If the estimated standard error for a quarterly change estimate of job vacancies was 1,000 and the quarterly change estimate between two quarters was 4,500, then there would be about two chances in three that a full enumeration would have given a quarterly change estimate in the range +3,500 to +5,500 and about 19 chances in 20 that it would be in the range +2,500 to +6,500.

5 Quarterly movements in estimates of job vacancies are considered to be statistically significant where they exceed two standard errors.

6 Another measure of the sampling error (for level estimates only) is the relative standard error, which is obtained by expressing the standard error as a percentage of the estimate to which it refers. Level estimates with a relative standard error between 25% and 50%, denoted by an asterisk in this release, are subject to sampling variability generally considered to be too high for most practical purposes and should be used with caution. Level estimates with a relative standard error of 50% or more, denoted by a double asterisk, are considered to be too unreliable for general use.

7 The following table shows the standard errors for quarterly level and movement for States and territories by Sector, based on original data for the current quarter. The next table shows the standard errors for level estimates by industry.

Job vacancy estimates are a stock data type, as the number of job vacancies is measured at a point in time.

Industry is classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0).

A job vacancy is a job available for immediate filling on the survey reference date and for which recruitment action has been taken. Recruitment action includes efforts to fill vacancies by advertising, by on site or online notices, by notifying employment agencies or trade unions and by contacting, interviewing or selecting applicants already registered with the enterprise or organisation.

Estimates of job vacancies exclude:

• jobs not available for immediate filling on the survey reference date;
• jobs for which no recruitment action has been taken;
• jobs which became vacant on the survey date and were filled on the same day;
• jobs of less than one day's duration;
• jobs only available to be filled by internal applicants within an organisation;
• jobs to be filled by employees returning from paid or unpaid leave or after industrial disputes;
• vacancies for work to be carried out by contractors; and
• jobs for which a person has been appointed but has not yet commenced duty.
   

The reference date for the survey is the third Friday of the middle month of the calendar quarter. The reference date for the current survey is 21 February 2020.

Public sector comprises local government authorities and all government departments and agencies created by, or reporting to the Commonwealth or State/Territory Parliaments. The private sector comprises all organisations not classified as public sector.

For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

The Job Vacancies Survey (JVS) produces quarterly estimates of job vacancies based on information obtained from a sample of employers. A job vacancy is a job available for immediate filling on the survey reference date and for which recruitment action has been taken. Job vacancies data are used as a leading indicator of employment growth, in monitoring of the Australian economy, and for formulating economic policy.

Job vacancies data are available by state/territory, industry and sector. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates are produced for Australia by sector series.

The JVS reference date is the third Friday of the middle month of the quarter, i.e. February, May, August and November. Job vacancies data relate to the number of vacancies which exist on the actual reference date only, and not for a monthly or quarterly period.

Job vacancy estimates are released approximately six weeks after the reference date, with the exception of estimates for each November which, due to the Christmas and New Year period, are released eight weeks after the reference date.

Information for the JVS is collected by online form and/or telephone from a sample of approximately 5,400 employers. The employer sample selected is stratified by state, industry division and employment size to ensure adequate state, and industry representation. A minimum response rate of 95% is generally achieved for the survey as a whole and for each state and industry.

There are two principal sources of error in surveys, sampling error and non-sampling error. Non-sampling error arises from inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data. Every effort is made to minimise non-sampling error by the careful design and testing of questionnaires, detailed checking of the reported data and direct follow up with providers where significant errors are detected.

Sampling error occurs when a sample or subset of the population is surveyed rather than the entire population. One measure of the likely difference resulting from not including all of the population in the survey is given by the standard error. There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one standard error from the figure that would have been obtained if the whole population had been included in the survey.

Estimates of job vacancies are seasonally adjusted to remove the estimated effects of normal seasonal variation from the series. The seasonally adjusted series are further smoothed to reduce the impact of irregular or non-seasonal factors. Smoothed seasonally adjusted series are called trend estimates. As data becomes available for the next quarter there are usually revisions in the trend estimates for the most recent preceding quarters.

The ABS considers that trend estimates provide a more reliable guide to the underlying direction of the original estimates and are more suitable than either the seasonally adjusted or original estimates for most business decisions and policy advice.

The current job vacancies series, based on information obtained from a sample survey of employers on the ABS Business Register, was introduced in November 1983. Prior to November 1983 the job vacancies series was based on information obtained from a sample of businesses which submitted payroll tax returns. The survey was suspended from August 2008 to August 2009 (inclusive) and was re-instated for November 2009.

Data collection methodology have been improved over time, including survey definitions and sample design. Seasonally adjusted estimates were introduced in 1984 and trend estimates were introduced in 1993.

The JVS uses Australian standard classifications to facilitate data comparability across statistical series. Industry data from November 2009 are classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0). Data for earlier series are classified to the 1993 edition of ANZSIC.

Job Vacancies, Australia (cat. no. 6354.0) contains Methodology, a Glossary and a Technical Note which provide further information about data sources, terminology and other technical aspects of the series.

Job Vacancies, Australia (cat. no. 6354.0) is available electronically from the ABS website and includes downloadable Excel data files for time series data.

No further data breakdowns are available other than what is published on the ABS website.

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.

In order to provide a high degree of consistency and comparability over time, changes to survey methods, concepts, data item definitions, and frequency of collection are made as infrequently as possible. Significant changes have included:

• Annual Job Vacancies Survey via mail-out commenced (largely to investigate practicality of a JVS)
   

• Introduction of a smaller scale quarterly telephone-based survey
• Sample based on lists of private and public employers
   

• Annual and quarterly surveys discontinued
   

• Quarterly survey reintroduced
• Treatment of Australian Public Service vacancies changed to exclude "vacancies" only available to public service employees
   

• First collection of job vacancies registered with the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES) (continued on annual basis)
   

• Collection of vacancies classified by sex discontinued
   

• Job vacancies data published by sector for the first time
   

• ABS publication of job vacancies registered with the CES discontinued, with the data available via special data service
   

• Seasonally adjusted series produced for the first time (November)
• Collection of job vacancies registered with CES discontinued
• Job Vacancies, Australia (cat. no. 6231.0) and Overtime, Australia (cat. no. 6330.0) merged into Job Vacancies and Overtime, Australia publication (cat. no. 6354.0)
   

• Trend estimates published for the first time
   

• Survey redesigned on an ANZSIC (1993) industry basis. The historical Industry series data was back cast on an ANZSIC 1993 basis
• Sample rotation increased from approximately 5% to approximately 8% in rotating strata
   

• Treatment of Australian Public Service vacancies changed (from being excluded to being included) after vacancies were made available to all Australian citizens
   

• Introduction of Live Respondent Mean imputation for the sampled sector, and the Business Provisions adjustment for the private sector
• Overtime component discontinued
• Significant improvement in procedures, particularly coverage of vacancies within statistical units
   

• Changes to the ABS Business Register and the ABS statistical units model arising from the New Tax System (changes did not affect the continuity of the key statistical series)
   

• Collection of number of employees discontinued
• Publication of job vacancy rate discontinued
   

• Concurrent seasonal adjustment method introduced, replacing the forward factor adjustment method previously used
   

• Seasonally adjusted estimates for the private sector temporarily suspended due to a lack of identifiable seasonality in February and May 2008 (seasonally adjusted estimates match the corresponding original estimates)
• Survey suspended for five quarters from August 2008 to August 2009 inclusive
   

• Survey reinstated for the November 2009 reference period
• Survey sample and outputs redesigned on ANZSIC 2006 industry basis from November 2009, but historical ANZSIC 1993 series up to May 2008 were not backcast
• Updated employment benchmarks on the business survey frame to reflect more up-to-date information for use in stratification and estimation
• Incorporated changes to the SISCA, Public/Private and level of Government classifications
   

• Estimates from reinstated survey first published for the February 2010 reference period
• Trend estimates for November 2009 onwards reintroduced from the August 2010 issue
   

• Seasonally adjusted estimates for the private sector reinstated in February 2014 as the series is again showing identifiable seasonality
• Online electronic collection introduced from February 2014 reference period
   

• From the November 2017 issue, winsorisation methodology was introduced as the primary method to treat outliers in JVS replacing 'surprise outliering '
   

• Redesigned survey sample implemented in February 2018 issue