JULY KEY FIGURES

Jun 2018 Jul 2018 Jun 18 to Jul 18 Jul 17 to Jul 18 Trend Employed persons ('000) 12 554.7 12 581.6 26.9 2.4 % Unemployed persons ('000) 714.4 713.0 -1.3 -1.7 % Unemployment rate (%) 5.4 5.4 0.0 pts -0.2 pts Participation rate (%) 65.5 65.5 0.0 pts 0.3 pts Seasonally Adjusted Employed persons ('000) 12 579.1 12 575.2 -3.9 2.4 % Unemployed persons ('000) 711.7 706.0 -5.7 -3.4 % Unemployment rate (%) 5.4 5.3 0.0 pts -0.3 pts Participation rate (%) 65.7 65.5 -0.1 pts 0.3 pts Employed Persons



Unemployment Rate







JULY KEY POINTS





TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

Employment increased 26,900 to 12,581,600.

Unemployment decreased 1,300 to 713,000.

Unemployment rate remained steady at 5.4%.

Participation rate remained steady at 65.5%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 3.1 million hours (0.2%) to 1,748.0 million hours.



SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

Employment decreased 3,900 to 12,575,200. Full-time employment increased 19,300 to 8,587,500 and part-time employment decreased 23,200 to 3,987,700.

Unemployment decreased 5,700 to 706,000. The number of unemployed persons looking for full-time work increased 2,300 to 504,100 and the number of unemployed persons only looking for part-time work decreased 8,000 to 201,900.

Unemployment rate decreased by less than 0.1 pts to 5.3%.

Participation rate decreased by 0.1 pts to 65.5%.

Monthly hours worked in all jobs increased 4.0 million hours (0.2%) to 1,749.6 million hours.



NOTES



FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date August 2018 13 September 2018 September 2018 18 October 2018 October 2018 15 November 2018 November 2018 20 December 2018 December 2018 24 January 2019



UPDATE ON MONTHLY UNDEREMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES



As previously advised, the ABS intends to release monthly trend and seasonally adjusted underemployment and underutilisation measures in the September issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) on 18 October 2018. Further information on the new monthly series, including changes that will be made to the suite of time series spreadsheets, will be included in the August issue, on 13 September 2018.





MONTHLY HOURS WORKED IN ALL JOBS



Each year, the Monthly hours worked in all jobs series are benchmarked to an annual hours worked estimate. This annual process was conducted in July 2018 and resulted in minor revisions to all Monthly hours worked in all jobs series.



In the March 2018 publication, as part of the Annual Seasonal Re-analysis, the ABS implemented some minor improvements to trend estimation for most series. With the July 2018 publication, the ABS extended these improvements to the Monthly hours worked in all jobs series. This improvement to hours worked estimates will reduce the extent of revisions in trend series over time. Improvements to the trend estimation will have no impact on the estimation of seasonally adjusted estimates.





NEW LABOUR FORCE SURVEY SAMPLE PHASE-IN



Since May 2013, the Labour Force Survey sample has been selected using information collected in the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. The effectiveness of the Labour Force sample is maintained by updating it with information from the most recent Census.



Commencing with July 2018, the ABS will utilise information from the 2016 Census for sample selection with the new sample phased in over eight months from July 2018. Detailed information on the new sample, including the use of the ABS Address Register, can be found in Information Paper: Labour Force Survey Sample Design, Jul 2018 (cat. no. 6269.0), which was released on 30 July 2018.



As with previous sample changes, impacts on the data are expected to be minimal and will be monitored.





ROUNDING



Estimates of changes shown on the front cover and used in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movement obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.





SAMPLING ERROR



The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Published estimates and movements are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of sampling variability. The interval bounded by two standard errors is the 95% confidence interval, which provides a way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates. There is a 95% chance that the true value of the estimate lies within that interval.

As previously advised, the ABS intends to release monthly trend and seasonally adjusted underemployment and underutilisation measures in the September issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) on 18 October 2018. Further information on the new monthly series, including changes that will be made to the suite of time series spreadsheets, will be included in the August issue, on 13 September 2018.Each year, the Monthly hours worked in all jobs series are benchmarked to an annual hours worked estimate. This annual process was conducted in July 2018 and resulted in minor revisions to all Monthly hours worked in all jobs series.In the March 2018 publication, as part of the Annual Seasonal Re-analysis, the ABS implemented some minor improvements to trend estimation for most series. With the July 2018 publication, the ABS extended these improvements to the Monthly hours worked in all jobs series. This improvement to hours worked estimates will reduce the extent of revisions in trend series over time. Improvements to the trend estimation will have no impact on the estimation of seasonally adjusted estimates.Since May 2013, the Labour Force Survey sample has been selected using information collected in the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. The effectiveness of the Labour Force sample is maintained by updating it with information from the most recent Census.Commencing with July 2018, the ABS will utilise information from the 2016 Census for sample selection with the new sample phased in over eight months from July 2018. Detailed information on the new sample, including the use of the ABS Address Register, can be found in Information Paper: Labour Force Survey Sample Design, Jul 2018 (cat. no. 6269.0), which was released on 30 July 2018.As with previous sample changes, impacts on the data are expected to be minimal and will be monitored.Estimates of changes shown on the front cover and used in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movement obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Published estimates and movements are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of sampling variability. The interval bounded by two standard errors is the 95% confidence interval, which provides a way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates. There is a 95% chance that the true value of the estimate lies within that interval. MOVEMENTS IN SEASONALLY ADJUSTED SERIES BETWEEN JUNE 2018 AND JULY 2018 Monthly change 95% Confidence interval Total Employment -3 900 -64 300 to 56 500 Total Unemployment -5 700 -42 100 to 30 700 Unemployment rate 0.0 pts -0.2 pts to 0.2 pts Participation rate -0.1 pts -0.5 pts to 0.3 pts



INQUIRIES



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