LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS – November 2002

TREASURY & FINANCE 197 ST GEORGE’S TERRACE, PERTH WA 6000 TELEPHONE (08) 9222 9159 FAX (08) 9222 9914

Key Results

Seasonally Adjusted

/

Trend

November 2002 / Change / November 2002 / Change
Employment (‘000, mthly) / 962.1 / -0.1% / 963.8 / 0.1%
Employment growth (3 mthly) / - / 0.5% / - / 0.4%
Unemployment rate / 5.9% / -0.1 ppts / 6.1% / 0.0 ppts

Comment

In November 2002, the number of employed persons in Western Australia fell by 0.1%, or 800people. Part-time employment recovered from last month's fall, increasing by 1.0%, while full-time employment fell a further 0.6%. Theparticipation rate, however, decreased by 0.2percentage points, and consequently, despite the fall in employment, theunemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to5.9%.

Monthly labour force data are, however, quite volatile, and three-monthly data provide a better indication of conditions in the labour market. In the three months to November 2002, employment increased by 0.5%(5,033people) compared with the three months to August. Theunemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 6.0%. The participation rate was unchanged over this period.

Nationally, employment also grew by 0.5% over the three months to November 2002. The largest increase was inQueensland, up 1.0%, followed by 0.9% growth in South Australia, 0.6% in Victoria, and 0.3% in New South Wales. Employment was unchanged in Tasmania.

Australia’s unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.1% in November 2002. Inthethree months to November, the national unemployment rate was down at 6.1%, compared to 6.3% in thethree months to August.

The outlook for employment in Western Australia remains positive. While the ANZ Job Ads Series survey declined by 3.1% in November 2002 (the first decline since May), in the three months to November, job ads in Western Australia increased by 9.7%. In trend terms, job ads increased by 6.6% in the three month to November 2002. Nationally, thetrend in job advertisements has improved, with growth of 2.2% over the same period.

DETAIL

Employment

Employment in Western Australia fell by 0.1% in November 2002, but increased by 0.5% over thethree months to November.

Over the three months to November:

  • full-time employment increased by 0.5% (3,200 people) to 662,500 people; and
  • part-time employment increased by 0.6% (1,800 people) to 299,600 people.

In annual average terms, employment grew by 1.6% in Western Australia over the year to November2002, compared with 1.8% growth nationally.

Nationally, employment increased by 0.5% in the three months to November 2002. Fulltime employment increased 0.7% over the period, while part-time employment grew by 0.2%.

8 November 2002

For further information on these or related statistics please Rasmus Moerch on 9222 9912 or e-mail at

Note: The labour force statistics are derived from a sample survey and monthly variations should be interpreted with caution. All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise stated.

Employment
Nov. Number
‘000s / Three months to Nov. Change
% / Annual change*
%
NSW / 3,103.5 / 0.3 / 1.4
Vic / 2,354.4 / 0.6 / 1.5
Qld / 1,774.2 / 1.0 / 2.8
WA / 962.1 / 0.5 / 1.6
SA / 695.8 / 0.9 / 2.3
Tas / 200.1 / 0.0 / -0.8
Aust. / 9,423.6 / 0.5 / 1.8

* 12 months to date on same period last year.

12 December 2002

For further information on these or related statistics please contact Rasmus Moerch on 9222 9912, or
e-mail at

Note: The labour force statistics are derived from a sample survey and monthly variations should be interpreted with caution. All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise stated.

Unemployment

The fall in the unemployment rate in WesternAustralia from 6.0% inOctober2002 to 5.9% in November was due to a 0.2 percentage point decline in the participation rate, which was only partly offset by the 0.1% decline in employment.

The Western Australian participation rate of 66.1% in November 2002 is still by far the highest rate of all States and compares with the national rate of 63.8%.

In trend terms, the unemployment rate in Western Australia was unchanged at 6.1% in November2002, on par with the national trend, and substantially below the rate of 6.6% recorded in November 2001.

Nationally, the unemployment rate increased to 6.1% in November 2002 from 6.0% in October with employment growth of 0.5% more than offset by a 0.4 percentage point increase in the participation rate.

Unemployment Rate
Nov.
2002
% / Oct.
2002
% / Nov.
2001
%
NSW / 5.6 / 6.0 / 6.7
Vic / 5.9 / 5.8 / 7.0
Qld / 6.9 / 7.0 / 8.0
WA / 5.9 / 6.0 / 6.3
SA / 6.1 / 6.3 / 6.9
Tas / 7.9 / 8.2 / 8.8
Aust. / 6.1 / 6.0 / 6.8

Youth Unemployment

Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate was 22.5% in November 2002. The monthly youth unemployment data, however, are not seasonally adjusted and can be extremely volatile, so care should be taken when interpreting themonthly data. Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate compares with the national youth unemployment rate of 21.2% in November 2002, and averaged 20.8% over the 12months to November compared with thenational average of 22.9%.