Global| Oct 07 2004More Jobs in Australia; Unemployment Still Low
Summary
Labor markets in Australia continue to look prosperous, based on data reported today for September. We last reported on them four months ago; employment in May had ticked down, but the unemployment rate was also at its lowest in 23 [...]
Labor markets in Australia continue to look prosperous, based on data reported today for September. We last reported on them four months ago; employment in May had ticked down, but the unemployment rate was also at its lowest in 23 years. Over the winter in Australia, job growth resumed. The number employed gained 16,000 in July and 63,000 in September, with mild dips in intervening months. Employment is now 237,000 larger than its level in September 2003, a gain of 2.5%, the largest year-on-year percentage increase since May 2003. The unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in September and has hovered since May just above its low then of 5.5%.
In our prior commentary, published on June 10, we described an "employment rate", that is, the percentage of the working-age population that is employed; this is a ratio we calculated using Haver's DLXVG3 software. In September it was 60.1%, up from 59.8% in August and from just barely under 60% in May. The September value is only the sixth in the 27-year history of the data which actually exceeds 60%. Similar rates are provided by government statistics bureaus in a number of other countries, and they look remarkably similar. Australia's 60% is something of a central value; it is almost exactly equal to a June reading in the UK of 59.9%, and it is higher than the recent 57.5% in Italy, but somewhat lower than 62.5% in the US and in Canada.
| Australia Labor Force Survey | Sept 2004 | Aug 2004 | Jul 2004 | Year Ago | December/December|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | |||||
| Employment: Change, Thous | +63 | -9 | +16 | +237 | +153 | +282 | +81 |
| Yr/Yr % Change | 2.5 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 0.9 | |||
| "Employment Rate"*, % | 60.1 | 59.8 | 59.9 | 59.6 | 59.8** | 59.4** | 59.1** |
| Unemployment Rate, % | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 6.0** | 6.4** | 6.8** |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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