REAL unemployment is double the official figure - with 13 per cent of Australia's workforce wanting a job or longer hours.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released a new analysis that combines the official unemployment rate with "discouraged" jobseekers, the "underemployed'' and those who want to start work within a month, but cannot begin immediately.

The 13.1 per cent rate of "extended labour force under-utilisation'' in August 2012 was more than double the official unemployment rate at the time of 5 per cent.

The ABS counts people as employed even if they only work an hour a week.

But the new measure also counts underemployment - workers in part-time or casual positions who want a permanent job or longer hours.

And it includes those "discouraged'' jobseekers who want to work but have given up looking because employers consider them to be too old or too young, if they are ill or disabled, lack the necessary training or experience, cannot find a job locally or in their line of work, or cannot speak English well.

The ABS report shows the labour under-utilisation rate fell steadily between 2001 and 2008 but "increased sharply'' when the global financial crisis hit in 2009, from 10.6 per cent to 14.3 per cent.

Mission Australia chief executive Toby Hall yesterday called for a change to how the federal government calculates unemployment.

He said the current 5.6 per cent unemployment rate did not reflect the number of Australians on disability pensions, or who have given up looking for work.

"There are very few long-term jobs for people who are unemployed or work-challenged,'' he said.

"People are just giving up looking because there are no jobs to go to.''

Mr Hall said casual jobs that provide work for 10 hours one week and 20 the next "make life difficult to manage''.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said bosses wanted to hire extra staff and give existing workers more hours - but could not afford to.

"Many staff working part-time or casual hours want more work to supplement their income but the patchiness of the Australian economy is making that a very difficult ask,'' he said yesterday.

"Industry has sought to keep as many people in work as possible by adjusting their hours rather than retrenching them.''

The ABS report shows the "labour under-utilisation rate'' was much higher for women - at 14.2 per cent - than men, at 11.3 per cent.

And young Australians were find it toughest to crack the job market, with a third of 15 to 19-year-olds and nearly one in five 20 to 24-year-olds "under-utilised''.

Tasmania suffered the nation's highest rate of labour under-utilisation - with 18 per cent of the workforce wanting a job or more hours of work.

In South Australia, 14.6 per cent of the workforce was "under-utilised''.

In Victoria, 14.2 per cent of the workforce was "under-utilised".

In Queensland, 13.8 per cent of the workforce was "under-utilised".

In NSW, 12.3 per cent of the workforce was "under-utilised''.

In the Northern Territory, 7.5 per cent of the workforce was "under-utilised''.

The ABS report said the under-utilisation rate gave a "more comprehensive picture'' of the state of Australia's workforce than the pure jobless rate.

"While the unemployment rate is the most commonly used measure of available labour supply, it is by no means a comprehensive measure,'' it said.

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