Labour Force, Australia - Rebenchmarked Estimates

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Summary results following the process of rebenchmarking the Labour Force Survey data to the final 2016 Census based Estimated Resident Population

Reference period
October 2018

Major rebenchmarking of labour force series

Background

This publication follows on from the preliminary census rebenchmarking to the labour force estimates in October 2017, providing revised labour force estimates based on the census 2016 final Estimated Resident Population (ERP) benchmarks.

The revised estimates provided in this publication cover the July 2011 to October 2018 period.

The ABS will continue with the regular quarterly rebenchmarking, as per the process outlined in the article ‘Rebenchmarking of Labour Force Series’, published in the February 2015 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

What is the impact of rebenchmarking on the labour force estimates?

While rebenchmarking results in revisions to published data, it does not generally result in any material change to headline indicators (e.g. unemployment rates, participation rates or employment to population ratios) at the Australia or state and territory levels. Changes to the population benchmarks are more likely to impact on estimates that are directly related to the size of the population (e.g. the number of employed people).

Changes in population composition such as age, sex or region of residence may result in a different rate of change, particularly at finer levels of geography. A summary of the impact of the major rebenchmarking is outlined below.

Trend Adjusted - AustraliaRebenchmarked (2016 Final ERP Base)Rebenchmarked (2016 Preliminary ERP Base)Difference
Employed ('000)12652.912665.8-12.9
Unemployed ('000)680.1680.3-0.3
Unemployment Rate (%)5.15.10.0
Employment to Population Ratio (%)62.262.30.0
Participation Rate (%)65.665.60.0

Source: 2016 Preliminary ERP Base - Labour Force, Australia, Oct 2018 (cat. no. 6202.0) Spreadsheet 1.
 

Seasonally Adjusted - AustraliaRebenchmarked (2016 Final ERP Base)Rebenchmarked (2016 Preliminary ERP Base)Difference
Employed ('000)12658.612671.5-13.0
Unemployed ('000)671.0672.1-1.0
Unemployment Rate (%)5.05.00.0
Employment to Population Ratio (%)62.262.30.0
Participation Rate (%)65.565.60.0

Source: 2016 Preliminary ERP Base - Labour Force, Australia, Oct 2018 (cat. no. 6202.0) Spreadsheet 1.
 

  • The overall labour market narrative is unchanged as a result of rebenchmarking, with the headline unemployment rate unchanged, and the participation rate and employment to population ratio showing very little change. For example, as at October 2018, the change to the employment to population ratio was 0.1 percentage points at the Australia level.
  • As at October 2018, trend employment has been revised down by around 12,900 persons, while the number of unemployed persons was revised down by around 250 persons.
  • The impact on state trend employment estimates are also relatively small, with the largest changes in Queensland (down around 5,100) and New South Wales (down around 3,300).
     

Data downloads - time series spreadsheets

Table 1. Labour force status by sex, Australia - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 4. Labour force status by sex, New South Wales - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 5. Labour force status by sex, Victoria - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 6. Labour force status by sex, Queensland - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 7. Labour force status by sex, South Australia - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 8. Labour force status by sex, Western Australia - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 9. Labour force status by sex, Tasmania - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 10. Labour force status by sex, Northern Territory - trend and original

Table 11. Labour force status by sex, Australian Capital Territory - trend and original

Table 12. Labour force status by sex, state and territory - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 13. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by sex - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 15. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by educational attendance (full-time) and sex

Table 16. Labour force status for 15-24 year olds by state, territory and educational attendance (full-time)

Table 17. Labour force status for 15-19 year olds by sex - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 18. Labour force status for 15-64 year olds by sex - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 19. Monthly hours worked in all jobs by employed full-time, part-time and sex and by state and territory - trend and seasonally adjusted

Table 21. Quarterly hours worked in all jobs by market and non-market sector - seasonally adjusted

Table 22. Underutilised persons by age and sex - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 22. The ABS has identified an error in some of the historical underemployment and underutilisation data in this release. Correct underemployment and underutilisation data can be found in the October 2018 and November 2018 releases of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

Table 23. Underutilised persons by state, territory and sex - trend, seasonally adjusted and original

Table 23. The ABS has identified an error in some of the historical underemployment and underutilisation data in this release. Correct underemployment and underutilisation data can be found in the October 2018 and November 2018 releases of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

Table 24. Underutilised persons by age and sex, monthly

Table 25. Underutilised persons by state, territory and sex, monthly

All time series spreadsheet

Data downloads - data cubes

GM1 - Labour force status and gross changes (flows) by age, sex, state and territory, February 1991 onwards

History of changes

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6202.0.55.003.

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