ECONOMIC AND REVENUE POLICY DIVISION
ECONOMIC NOTE
LABOUR FORCE STATISTICS – July 2002
Key Results
Employment (‘000, mthly)
Employment growth (3 mthly)
Unemployment rate
Seasonally Adjusted
July-2002
Change
955.3
-0.9%
Trend
July-2002
958.3
Change
0.1%
-
0.3%
-
0.5%
6.0%
0.3ppts
5.9%
-0.1ppts
Comment
In July, the number of employed persons fell by a solid 8,900 (0.9%). A decrease in full-time
employment of 1.9% was only partly offset by a smaller increase in part-time employment (of 1.3%).
Partly offsetting the sharp fall in employment, the participation rate declined by 0.5 percentage points,
resulting in a more moderate increase in the unemployment rate to 6.0% in July.
However, monthly labour force data are volatile, and three-monthly data provide a better indication
of conditions in the labour market. In the three months to July, employment increased by
0.3% (2,400 people), which is slower than the pace of employment growth recorded earlier in the year.
The unemployment rate over the same period averaged 6.1% (unchanged from the three months
to April), while the participation rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 66.3%.
Employment levels fell across most Australia in July, with New South Wales the only State to record
an increase (of only 0.1%). While the fall in Western Australia was the second largest of all States,
Tasmania recorded the largest fall (of 1.6%) in employment of all States. Nationally, employment fell
by 0.3% in July. In the three months to July 2002, national employment grew by 0.2%.
Australia’s unemployment rate was 6.2% in July, down from 6.5% in June. Over the three months to
July the national unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points to 6.3%.
The ANZ Job Ads Series survey suggests more positive conditions in the Western Australian labour
market in coming months. In the three months to July, job ads in Western Australia increased by
2.9%, while trend job ads increased by 5.1% over the same period, and have increased every month
since June 2001.
DETAIL
Employment
Employment in Western Australia fell by 0.9% in July 2002, but increased by 0.3% in the three
months to July.
Over the three months to July:
 full-time employment fell by 0.02 % (167 people) to 667,000 people; and
 part-time employment increased by 0.9% (2,567 people) to 289,700 people.
In annual average terms, employment grew by 1.2% in Western Australia in the year to July 2002,
marginally above the national rate of growth of 1.1%.
Nationally, employment rose by 0.2% in the three months to July. Full-time employment was
unchanged over this period, while part-time employment grew by 0.8%.
Employment
Number
‘000s
NSW
Vic
Qld
WA
SA
Tas
Aust.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EMPLOYMENT
3 months
to July
Change
%
Annual
change*
%
0.25
0.30
0.32
0.25
0.32
0.08
0.23
0.90
1.23
2.10
1.21
1.38
-1.06
1.12
3,100.2
2,341.0
1,743.2
955.3
688.5
196.7
9,289.5
1.5
Monthly Trend Growth
Percent
Full-Time
Part-Time
Full-Time Equivalent
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
Jul-98
* 12 months to date on same period last year.
Jan-99
Jul-99
Jan-00
Jul-00
Jan-01
Jul-01
Jan-02
Jul-02
Unemployment
The decrease in employment in July caused an increase in the unemployment rate in
Western Australia to 6.0% from 5.7% in June.
In July, the participation rate in Western Australia fell 0.5 percentage points to 66.1%, however this
remains the highest rate of all States and compares with the national rate of 63.3%.
In trend terms, the unemployment rate in Western Australia fell by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9% in
July 2002, which is substantially below the trend unemployment rate of 7.1% recorded in July 2001.
Nationally, the unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points in July to 6.2%. The in employment
was offset by a larger decline in the participation rate.
Unemployment Rate
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
July
June
2002
%
2002
%
July
2001
%
Percent
12
11
10
NSW
Vic
Qld
WA
SA
Tas
Aust.
6.2
5.3
7.2
6.0
6.5
9.5
6.2
6.3
6.3
7.5
5.7
6.9
8.6
6.5
6.1
6.3
8.2
7.2
7.8
9.5
6.9
9
8
7
6
5
4
Jul-92
Western Australia
Jul-94
Jul-96
Australia
Jul-98
Jul-00
Jul-02
Youth Unemployment
Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate rose to 19.4% in July, an increase of half a percentage
point compared to the previous month. The monthly youth unemployment data can be extremely
volatile and is not seasonally adjusted, so care should be taken when interpreting the monthly data.
Western Australia’s youth unemployment rate compares with the national youth unemployment rate
of 18.6% in July, and averaged 20.7% over the 12 months to July 2002 compared with the national
average of 23.6%.
8 August 2002
For further information on these or related statistics please contact Rasmus Moerch on 9222 9912 or e-mail at
rasmus.moerch@dtf.wa.gov.au
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.