Unemployment in Australia

Unemployment Benefit in Australia

Centrelink support Australian jobseekers with a range of payments, but for most people there is a 2 year waiting period after arriving as a migrant:

• Youth Allowance - for full-time students aged 16 to 24 OR unemployed people aged under 21.
• Newstart Allowance - for people aged over 21 who are unemployed or are temporarily unable to work due to illness, injury or disability.

There is an income Test for any Unemployment Benefit, and that test takes into account you AND your partners income. This can be checked at:

• www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/factors/income.htm

For more information on payments for jobseekers go to Payments while you are looking for work.

• www.centrelink.gov.au/…/work_payments.htm

Unemployment Statistics in Australia

• NSW Employment and Unemployment Rates

Male Unemployment rate Looking for Full Time Work- Trend Rates

Month	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA
Nov-2010	3.21%	4.96%	2.90%	5.25%	5.72%	5.17%	5.19%	4.08%
Oct-2010	3.13%	5.01%	2.96%	5.23%	5.66%	5.48%	5.23%	4.02%
Sep-2010	3.06%	5.08%	2.98%	5.21%	5.60%	5.84%	5.27%	3.95%
Aug-2010	3.05%	5.15%	2.98%	5.19%	5.52%	6.23%	5.32%	3.88%
Jul-2010	3.10%	5.23%	2.93%	5.18%	5.46%	6.58%	5.38%	3.84%
Jun-2010	3.25%	5.29%	2.87%	5.20%	5.39%	6.83%	5.44%	3.87%
May-2010	3.49%	5.35%	2.84%	5.26%	5.30%	6.89%	5.47%	4.00%
Apr-2010	3.78%	5.42%	2.84%	5.36%	5.23%	6.74%	5.45%	4.20%
Mar-2010	4.00%	5.55%	2.89%	5.48%	5.16%	6.46%	5.38%	4.40%
Feb-2010	4.13%	5.70%	2.98%	5.63%	5.12%	6.18%	5.30%	4.55%
Jan-2010	4.21%	5.87%	3.09%	5.79%	5.14%	6.02%	5.25%	4.65%
Dec-2009	4.25%	6.00%	3.23%	5.92%	5.26%	5.96%	5.30%	4.73%
Nov-2009	4.22%	6.06%	3.45%	6.01%	5.48%	5.88%	5.47%	4.85%

Female Unemployment rate Looking for Full Time Work - Trend Rates

Month	ACT	NSW	NT	QLD	SA	TAS	VIC	WA
Nov-2010	3.06%	5.52%	3.30%	5.79%	5.48%	5.28%	5.86%	5.37%
Oct-2010	3.12%	5.44%	3.19%	5.76%	5.39%	5.32%	5.80%	5.29%
Sep-2010	3.19%	5.40%	3.10%	5.75%	5.33%	5.38%	5.71%	5.22%
Aug-2010	3.25%	5.36%	3.02%	5.74%	5.29%	5.44%	5.63%	5.11%
Jul-2010	3.26%	5.35%	2.94%	5.73%	5.32%	5.47%	5.54%	5.00%
Jun-2010	3.20%	5.37%	2.88%	5.72%	5.37%	5.51%	5.43%	4.91%
May-2010	3.08%	5.41%	2.93%	5.68%	5.41%	5.54%	5.34%	4.89%
Apr-2010	2.93%	5.43%	3.08%	5.62%	5.41%	5.52%	5.29%	4.97%
Mar-2010	2.85%	5.45%	3.26%	5.55%	5.37%	5.45%	5.27%	5.13%
Feb-2010	2.89%	5.46%	3.41%	5.54%	5.29%	5.35%	5.29%	5.32%
Jan-2010	3.01%	5.47%	3.45%	5.61%	5.20%	5.26%	5.35%	5.49%
Dec-2009	3.13%	5.51%	3.45%	5.74%	5.14%	5.15%	5.41%	5.62%
Nov-2009	3.18%	5.58%	3.48%	5.86%	5.12%	4.99%	5.43%	5.68%

Original State Unemployment Rates
3 Year Comparison for Full Time workers

Males	NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT
Apr-2008	4.37%	3.90%	3.43%	4.66%	3.06%	2.64%	2.78%	2.34%
Apr-2009	6.18%	5.27%	5.60%	5.55%	3.73%	5.39%	5.60%	2.44%
Apr-2010	5.38%	5.63%	5.46%	5.41%	4.02%	6.08%	2.81%	3.11%
Females	NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT
Apr-2008	5.21%	5.62%	4.91%	5.03%	4.30%	5.17%	4.49%	1.96%
Apr-2009	7.07%	6.10%	5.56%	5.64%	6.36%	5.32%	4.21%	3.73%
Apr-2010	6.68%	5.80%	7.02%	6.56%	6.81%	6.36%	3.31%	2.45%

Unemployment rate - looking for full-time work

	Mar-2006	Mar-2007	Mar-2008	Mar-2009	Mar-2010
New South Wales ; Males ;	4.56%	4.19%	3.83%	6.34%	5.33%
New South Wales ; Females ;	5.23%	6.40%	5.02%	7.71%	6.81%
New South Wales ; Persons ;	4.79%	4.97%	4.26%	6.84%	5.85%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Victoria ; Males ;	4.64%	4.13%	3.93%	5.81%	5.20%
Victoria ; Females ;	5.77%	5.57%	4.87%	6.53%	6.01%
Victoria ; Persons ;	5.02%	4.64%	4.26%	6.06%	5.49%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Queensland ; Males ;	4.48%	3.45%	3.35%	5.46%	5.71%
Queensland ; Females ;	7.04%	5.70%	4.67%	5.75%	6.81%
Queensland ; Persons ;	5.36%	4.25%	3.82%	5.56%	6.10%
-	-	-	-	-	-
South Australia ; Males ;	5.05%	5.00%	4.60%	5.95%	5.39%
South Australia ; Females ;	5.94%	5.74%	4.74%	5.76%	6.72%
South Australia ; Persons ;	5.35%	5.25%	4.65%	5.89%	5.84%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Western Australia ; Males ;	3.23%	2.00%	2.83%	4.79%	5.05%
Western Australia ; Females ;	6.60%	3.39%	3.72%	5.68%	7.09%
Western Australia ; Persons ;	4.30%	2.45%	3.12%	5.08%	5.72%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Tasmania ; Males ;	7.00%	5.16%	3.77%	4.53%	5.90%
Tasmania ; Females ;	8.21%	6.53%	7.72%	5.63%	5.80%
Tasmania ; Persons ;	7.41%	5.62%	5.12%	4.91%	5.86%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Northern Territory ; Males ;	5.02%	2.06%	3.43%	4.04%	3.38%
Northern Territory ; Females ;	2.48%	3.13%	2.52%	5.40%	2.27%
Northern Territory ; Persons ;	3.95%	2.50%	3.05%	4.59%	2.93%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Australian Capital Territory ; Males ;	2.65%	2.66%	2.76%	2.03%	3.40%
Australian Capital Territory ; Females ;	2.43%	2.01%	2.81%	3.26%	1.94%
Australian Capital Territory ; Persons ;	2.56%	2.39%	2.78%	2.55%	2.81%
-	-	-	-	-	-
Australia ; Males ;	4.48%	3.82%	3.68%	5.69%	5.31%
Australia ; Females ;	5.87%	5.58%	4.74%	6.52%	6.44%
Australia ; Persons ;	4.96%	4.44%	4.05%	5.98%	5.71%

Trend Unemployment Rate ALL Persons, both Full and Part Time.

• November 2010 = 5.26% or seasonally adjusted = 5.21%
• October 2010 = 5.24% or seasonally adjusted = 5.39%
• September 2010 = 5.22% or seasonally adjusted = 5.15%
• August 2010 = 5.21% or seasonally adjusted = 5.14%
• July 2010 = 5.21% or seasonally adjusted = 5.32%
• June 2010 = 5.21% or seasonally adjusted = 5.14%
• May 2010 = 5.23% or seasonally adjusted = 5.15%
• April 2010 = 5.26% or seasonally adjusted = 5.36%
• March 2010 = 5.30% or seasonally adjusted = 5.37%
• February 2010 = 5.35% or seasonally adjusted = 5.32%
• January 2010 = 5.42% or seasonally adjusted = 5.27%
• December 2009 = 5.51% or seasonally adjusted = 5.53%
• November 2009 = 5.60% or seasonally adjusted = 5.64%
• October 2009 = 5.70% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.7%
• September 2009 = 5.76% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.7%
• August 2009 = 5.79% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.8%
• July 2009 = 5.79% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.8%
• June 2009 = 5.77% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.8%
• May 2009 = 5.73% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.7%
• April 2009 = 5.63% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.4%
• March 2009 = 5.47% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.7%
• February 2009 = 4.9% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.2% (UK was 6.7%)
• January 2009 = 4.8% or Seasonally adjusted = 4.8% (UK was 6.5%)
• December 2008 = 4.4% or Seasonally adjusted = 4.5%
• December 2004 = 5.1% or Seasonally adjusted = 5.1%
• December 1998 = 7.5% or Seasonally adjusted = 7.3%
• December 1994 = 9.0% or Seasonally adjusted = 8.8%

Based on Trend and Seasonally adjusted Estimates from both:

Australian Bureau
of Statistics -
www.abs.gov.au

Office of Statistics UK -
www.statistics.gov.uk

Unemployment Rates “October 2009”

12th November 2009

The Australian Trend unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8%
The Australian Seasonally Adjusted unemployment rate increased in October 2009 from 5.74% to 5.83%
Trend Estimates from Sep 09 to Oct 09

• Employment increased to 10,831,600 an increase of 24,500
• Unemployment increased to 670,100 an increase of 11,100
• Participation Rate increased to 65.2% from 65.1%

Unemployment Rates “September 2009”

8th October 2009

The Australian Trend unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8%
The Australian Seasonally Adjusted unemployment rate dropped in September 2009 from 5.797% to 5.745%
Trend Estimates from Aug 09 to Sept 09

• Employment increased to 10,786,000
• Unemployment increased to 668,400
• Participation Rate decreased to 65.1%

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment change for the last 12 months

• The Annual change from Sept 08 to Sept 09 has been a 39.1% Increase
• Full Time Males from 193,278 in Sept 2008 to 301,831 in Sept 2009. An increase of 56.2%
• Full Time Females from 139,810 in Sept 2008 to 195,615 in Sept 2009. An increase of 39.9%

The total Full time unemployed, during the last 12 months, has increased by 164,3570 from 333,089 to 497,445.

The above Estimate rates from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6202.0?OpenDocument

Unemployment Rates August 2009

10th September 2009

The Australian Trend unemployment rate remained steady in August 2009 at 5.8%
The Australian Seasonally Adjusted unemployment rate remained steady in July 2009 at 5.8%

Unemployment Rates “July 2009”

7th August 2009

The Australian Trend unemployment rate moved in “July 2009” from 5.8% to 5.9%
The Australian Seasonally Adjusted unemployment rate moved in “July 2009” from 5.8% to 5.8%

Trend Estimates from Jun 09 to Jul 09

• Employment changed from 10,779,100 to 10,778,300
• Unemployment changed from 664,100 to 670,500
• Participation Rate changed from 65.4% to 65.3%

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment change for the last 12 months

• The Annual change fromJul 08 to Jul 09 has been a 37.3% Increase

The above Estimate rates from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6202.0?OpenDocument

Unemployment Rates “June 2009”

9th July 2009

The Australian Trend unemployment rate moved in “June 2009” from 5.7% to 5.8%
The Australian Seasonally Adjusted unemployment rate moved in “June 2009” from 5.73% to 5.80%
Trend Estimates from May 09 to Jun 09

• Employment changed from 10,777,300 to 10,772,500
• Unemployment changed from 655,800 to 668,400
• Participation Rate changed from 65.4% to65.3%

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment change for the last 12 months

• The Annual change from Jun 08 to Jun 09 has been a3 9.1%Increase
• Full Time Males from 184,340 in June 2008 to 314,480 in June 2009. An increase of 70.6%
• Full Time Females from 131,720 in June 2008 to 186,370 in June 2009. An increase of 41.5%

The total Full time unemployed, during the last 12 months, has increased by 184,800 from 316,100 to 500,900.

The above Estimate rates from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/6202.0?OpenDocument

• More June 2009 information ….

World Unemployment Comparisons March/April 2009

Source: PDF Document at Click here for link

The document referred to is an excellent source of information on Unemployment in Australia, and is recommended reading.
Some excerpts are shown here:

Local Priority Employment Areas

Some regions have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn because of their location, industry composition, demographic profile and past economic performance.

Nine Local Priority Employment Areas have already been identified:
Canterbury Bankstown and South Western Sydney (NSW)
Illawarra (NSW)
Richmond Tweed and Clarence Valley (NSW)
Mid-North Coast (NSW)
South East Melbourne (Victoria)
Ipswich-Logan (Queensland)
South West Perth (Western Australia)
Northern and Western Adelaide (South Australia), and
Northern Tasmania.

Some additional local areas meet the same criteria as the first nine Local Priority Employment Areas targeted by Government. They are:
Port Augusta-Whyalla-Port Pirie (South Australia)
Southern Wide Bay Burnett (Queensland)
Bundaberg-Hervey Bay (Queensland)
North Western Melbourne (Victoria)
Ballarat-Bendigo (Victoria)
Central and North Western Sydney (New South Wales)
Cairns (Queensland)
Caboolture-Sunshine Coast (Queensland)
Central Coast-Hunter (New South Wales)
Townsville-Thuringowa (Queensland), and
Central Victoria.

These areas need additional resources to help them tackle unemployment and develop rapid responses to the regions needs.

May 2009

• More May 2009 information….

April 2009

• More April 2009 information….

(Trend Estimates)
Employment decreased to 10,790,600
Unemployment increased to 630,800
Unemployment Rate increased to 5.5% (or Seasonally adjusted = 5.4%)
Participation Rate increased to 65.5%

Australian Unemployment Actual Numbers (Original figures April 2009)
Unemployed - looking for full-time work

State	Male	Female
New South Wales	100,900	65,600
Victoria	67,000	41,300
Queensland	61,300	33,700
South Australia	20,900	11,100
Western Australia	21,600	18,400
Tasmania	5,800	2,900
Northern Territory	3,400	1,800
Australian Capital Territory	2,100	2,300
Australia	283,100	177,100

March 2009 - (Trend Estimates)

Employment decreased to 10,792,300
Unemployment increased to 612,800
Unemployment Rate increased to 5.4%
Participation Rate increased to 65.5%

Australian Unemployment Actual Numbers (Original figures March 2009)

Unemployed - looking for full-time work

State	Male	Female
New South Wales	103,600	73,400
Victoria	73,000	44,500
Queensland	59,200	34,700
South Australia	22,300	11,100
Western Australia	27,800	16,100
Tasmania	5,000	3,200
Northern Territory	2,400	2,100
Australian Capital Territory	1,800	2,100
Australia	294,900	187,100

February 2009 - (Trend Estimates)

• Employment increased to 10,811,700
• Unemployment increased to 561,100
• Unemployment Rate increased to 4.9%
• Participation Rate increased to 65.4%

www.abs.gov.au

January 2009

Unemployment in the US has reached 7.6 per cent, for the euro area it is 8 per cent, in the UK it is 6.3 per cent and in Canada it is 7.2 per cent.

January 2009 Unemployment (seasonally adjusted) rates in each Australian State:

• New South Wales, increased from 5.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent.
• Victoria, increased from 4.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent.
• Queensland, increased from 3.9 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
• South Australia, increased from 5.4 per cent to 5.6 per cent.
• Western Australia, increased from 2.9 per-cent to 3.2 per cent.
• Tasmania fell from 4.8 per cent to 4.5 per cent.
• Northern Territory increased from 4 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
• ACT, unchanged at 2.6 per cent.

Unemployment Rate - looking for full-time work. Male & Female

Seasonally Adjusted figures

• 6.82% Mar-2000
• 6.58% Mar-2001
• 6.67% Mar-2002
• 6.51% Mar-2003
• 5.52% Mar-2004
• 5.11% Mar-2005
• 4.80% Mar-2006
• 4.27% Mar-2007
• 3.87% Mar-2008
• 5.70%Mar-2009

January 2009 Unemployed and Looking for Full Time Work

Trend Unemployment Rates

• Male 223,000 4.3%
• Female 142,900 5.1%
• Total 365,900 4.6%

Total Full Time Employed

• Male 4,998,900
• Female 2,657,600
• Total 7,656,600

January 2009 Unemployed and Looking for Full or Part Time Work

Trend Unemployment Rates

• Male 283,000 4.6%
• Female 238,200 4.7%
• Total 521,200 4.6%

Total Employed

• Male 5,883,000
• Female 4,862,400
• Total 10,745,400

Unemployment Statistics

• Australia: Unemployed persons are defined by the ABS as those civilians aged 15 years and over who, during a period of one week (called the reference week), were not employed, but were available to start work in the reference week and had actively looked for work in the previous four weeks. It should be noted that ABS definitions of employment and unemployment conform with International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards. The one hour criterion in the definition of employment is considered fundamental to the ILO definition of unemployment, which refers to a situation of being completely without work. aph.gov.au

 

UK Official estimates of unemployment are produced by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) based upon the ILO (International Labour Organization) definition. Unemployment is a count of jobless people who want to work, are available to work, and are actively seeking employment. The ILO definition is used internationally, so comparisons between countries can be made, and it also allows for consistent comparisons over time. www.statistics.gov.uk

Labour Force Trend Statistics for ages 15 & Over in Queensland for December 2008

December Jobs in Queensland

• Full time dropped by 2,800
• Part time Increased by 4,200
• Total Jobs increased by 1,400 (error of 100 is recorded in original source figures)

December Jobs for MALES in Queensland

Full time dropped by 600 Part time Increased by 500

Total Jobs for MALES dropped by 100

December Jobs for FEMALES in Queensland

Full time dropped by 2,200
Part time Increased by 3,800
Total Jobs for FEMALES increased by 1,600

Queensland Male Full Time from Jan 2008 to Dec 2008

Jan-08 1,012,300
Feb-08 1,011,100
Mar-08 1,011,500
Apr-08 1,014,200
May-08 1,019,200
Jun-08 1,025,700
Jul-08 1,032,300
Aug-08 1,037,400
Sep-08 1,040,600
Oct-08 1,042,300
Nov-08 1,043,300
Dec-08 1,042,700

Annual changes in Full Time Male Jobs in Queensland

Dec-06 986,100
Dec-07 1,013,600 + 2.79%
Dec-08 1,042,700 + 2.87%Local Area Unemployment rates December 2008 in Brisbane Area

Brisbane
Overall area

• 3.6% Unemployment Rate
• 73.2% Employment Rate (15-64)

Sub Area’s

North Brisbane
2.3% Unemployment Rate
77.5% Employment Rate (15-64)

South East Brisbane
2.7% Unemployment Rate
77.0% Employment Rate (15-64)

Redcliffe Caboolture
3.4% Unemployment Rate
70.4% Employment Rate (15-64)

South West Brisbane
3.5% Unemployment Rate
73.0% Employment Rate (15-64)

Gold Coast
4.0% Unemployment Rate
72.7% Employment Rate (15-64)

Ipswich
4.2% Unemployment Rate
68.1% Employment Rate (15-64)

Sunshine Coast
4.4% Unemployment Rate
69.8% Employment Rate (15-64)

Logan
5.5% Unemployment Rate
70.7% Employment Rate (15-64)

Employment Statistics

Trend Estimates of Employed persons from abs.gov.au

October 2005

• 4,716,900 Full time employees
• 809,000 Part Time Employees
• 5,525,900 Total

October 2006

4,787,000 Full time employees up 1.49% in last 12 months
867,900 Part Time Employees up 7.28% in last 12 months
5,654,900 Total

October 2007

4,939,600 Full time employees up 3.19% in last 12 months
867,800 Part Time Employees Down -0.01% in last 12 months
5,807,400 Total

October 2008

5,038,400 Full time employees up 2.00% in last 12 months
867,500 Part Time Employees Down -0.03% in last 12 months
5,905,900 Total

Employment Rates

December 2008

Trend Estimates

Employment decreased to 10,749,400

• Unemployment increased to 498,100
• Unemployment Rate increased to 4.4%
• Participation Rate decreased to 65.0%

November 2008

Trend Estimates

Employment increased to 10,756,800
Unemployment increased to 488,600
Unemployment Rate increased to 4.3%
Participation Rate decreased to 65.1%

Sept 2008

Trend Estimates

Employment increased to 10,737,000
Unemployment decreased to 474,100
Unemployment Rate remained steady at 4.2%
Participation Rate remained steady at 65.2%

June 2008

Employment

• 71.5% Full-time employment 7,664,600
• 28.5% Part-time employment 3,051,100

Unemployment Rate
Australia 4.2%. (Male 4.0% : Female 4.5%)

Participation rateJune 2008 65.2%

The participation rate is the labour force (employed plus unemployed persons) expressed as a percentage of the civilian population 15 years and over.
This does not relate to Unemployment, as the unemployed are included in the figures.
It does however mean that the remainder are not looking for work; maybe they are retired, or financially secure enough to not need work.

http://www.abs.gov.au/…/6202.0?OpenDocument

November 2007

Employment

• 71.8% Full-time employment 7,594,200
• 28.2% Part-time employment 2,989,000

Unemployment Rate
Australia 4.5%. (Male 4.2% : Female 4.9%)
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/…/62020_nov%202007.pdf

November 2000

Employment

• 74% Full-time employment 6,698,800
• 26% Part-time employment 2,348,300

Unemployment Rate
Australia 6.6% :
NSW 5.8%; Vic 6.1%; Qld 7.9%; SA 7.7%; WA 6.5%; Tas 9.2%.
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/…/62020_nov%202000.pdf

December 1998

Employment

• 74% Full-time employment 6,432,800
• 26% Part-time employment 2,258,700

Unemployment Rate
Australia 7.5% :
(NSW 6.7%; Vic. 7.4%; Qld 8.4%; SA 9.2% WA 7.3% ; Tas. 10.3%)
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/…/62020_Dec%201998.pdf

Links

• Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Catalogue 6202.0
• UK Employment Statistics