LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS – March 2003

TREASURY & FINANCE 197 ST GEORGE’S TERRACE, PERTH WA 6000 TELEPHONE (08) 9222 9529 FAX (08) 9222 9914

Key Results

Seasonally Adjusted

/

Trend

March 2003 / Change / March 2003 / Change
Employment (‘000, mthly) / 971.4 / -0.6% / 976.8 / 0.1%
Employment growth (3 mthly) / - / 1.0% / - / 0.7%
Unemployment rate / 5.4% / -0.2 ppts / 5.7% / -0.1 ppts

Comment

Employment declined in March 2003, falling by 0.6%, following February’s decrease of 0.5%. In March 2003, fulltime employment fell by 0.7%, while part-time fell by 0.3%. Despite the decline in employment, the already low unemployment rate fell to 5.4% in March 2003 (the equal lowest rate since November 1989 and the lowest rate of all States), driven by a decline in the participation rate of 0.6 percentage points.

Given the inherent volatility associated with monthly labour force data, three monthly data provide a better indication of conditions in the labour market. In the March quarter 2003, employment increased by 1.0%(9,500people), while the unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 5.7% over the quarter, despite a 0.1 percentage point increase in the participation rate.

Nationally, employment growth was also healthy, increasing by 1.3% in the March quarter 2003. All States recorded a solid increase in employment in the March quarter, with the largest increase of 1.8% recorded in South Australia, and the smallest increase of 0.6% recorded in Tasmania.

Australia’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.2% in March 2003, while it remained unchanged at 6.1% in the March quarter.

Job advertisements data point towards healthy growth in employment in the coming months. The ANZJob Ads Series in Western Australia rose by 6.1% in March 2003, and by 2.3% in trend terms. Nationally, thetrend in job advertisements declined by 0.6% in March 2003.

DETAIL

Employment

Employment in Western Australia decreased by 0.6% in March 2003, but recorded healthy growth of 1.0% over the quarter.

In the March quarter 2003:

  • full-time employment increased by 2.1% (14,300 people) to 683,700 people; whereas
  • part-time employment decreased by 1.6% (4,800 people) to 293,000 people.

In annual average terms, employment growth was 2.3% in Western Australia over the year to March2003, which is the equal highest annual rate of growth since January 2001.

Nationally, employment fell by 0.4% in March, resulting in 42,800 fewer jobs. In the Marchquarter2003, however, employment maintained strong growth, increasing 1.3%, with fulltime and part-time employment increasing 1.4% and 1.2% respectively. Over the year to March 2003, employment grew by 2.3%.

13 March 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
Mar.
Number
‘000s / 3 months to Mar. Change
% / Annual change*
%
NSW / 3,167 / 1.5 / 1.7
Vic / 2,402 / 1.3 / 2.2
Qld / 1,798 / 1.6 / 3.2
WA / 971 / 1.0 / 2.3
SA / 715 / 1.8 / 2.7
Tas / 202 / 0.6 / 0.2
Aust. / 9,521 / 1.3 / 2.3

* 12 months to date on same period last year.

10 April 2003

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

Western Australia’s unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 5.4% in March 2003. This is the lowest unemployment rate of all States and the equal lowest in Western Australia since November1989.

The decline in the unemployment rate was driven by a fall in the participation rate, which fell 0.6percentage points to 66.0%. The Western Australian participation rate, however, remains the highest rate of all States and compares with the national rate of 64.1%.

In trend terms, the unemployment rate in Western Australia declined to 5.7% in March 2003 (the equal lowest rate since September 1989), below the national trend rate of 6.1%

Nationally, the unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 6.2% in March 2003, with a decline in employment growth of 0.4% only partly offset by a decline in theparticipation rate of 0.3percentage points.

Unemployment Rate
Mar.
2003
% / Feb.
2003
% / Mar.
2002
%
NSW / 5.8 / 5.9 / 6.0
Vic / 5.5 / 5.2 / 5.9
Qld / 7.6 / 6.9 / 7.6
WA / 5.4 / 5.6 / 5.7
SA / 6.0 / 6.3 / 6.7
Tas / 9.0 / 9.7 / 8.2
Aust. / 6.2 / 6.0 / 6.4

Youth Unemployment

Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate increased 1.5 percentage points to 23.7% in March2003, which compares with the national youth unemployment rate of 24.4%. The monthly youth unemployment data, however, are not seasonally adjusted and can be extremely volatile, so care should be taken when interpreting thedata. In annual average terms, Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate was 21.1% compared with thenational average of 22.3%.