Australia Area Profile – March 2016
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Working Age Population (15-64) : 15,790,200
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Employment Rate (15-64) : 72.3 %
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Participation Rate (15+) : 64.9 %
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Unemployment Rate (15+) : 5.7 %
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Youth Unemployment Rate (15-24) : 12.0 %
As the Coalition wander around the country claiming to have created 300,000 jobs last year, here are some employment statistics they don’t want to talk about.
The March 2016 Labour Force Survey showed there were 729,600 people unemployed.
During March full-time employment decreased 8,800 while part-time employment increased 34,900.
While the number of unemployed decreased by 7,300, there were 9,700 who just stopped looking for work giving a net increase of 2,400 new people unemployed.
The monthly Internet Vacancy Index (IVI), published by the Department of Employment, is based on a count of online job advertisements newly lodged on SEEK, CareerOne and Australian JobSearch during the month.
As such, the IVI does not reflect the total number of job advertisements in the labour market as it does not include jobs advertised through other online job boards, employer websites, word of mouth, in newspapers, and advertisements in shop windows, but it does give a good indication of comparative changes in numbers of advertised vacancies.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the IVI declined by 1.5% in March 2016 with falls in all occupational groups, and in all states and territories. Total vacancies were 159,419.
Over the year to March 2016, the strongest falls were recorded in Western Australia (down by 19.3%) and South Australia (5.2%). On a regional level, the strongest falls were recorded in Perth (down by 21.2%), Central Queensland (20.9%), Fleurieu Peninsula & Murray Mallee SA (17.8%), and Pilbara & Kimberley WA (17.8%).
Since April 2012, vacancies have fallen by 55.3% in Western Australia.
It is also informative to look more closely at the type of jobs being advertised.
Over the year, vacancies increased across the three highest skill levels. The strongest rises were recorded for skill level 1 (commensurate with a Bachelor Degree or higher, up by 7.4%) and skill level 2 (commensurate with an Advanced Diploma or Diploma, up by 7.2%). Skill level 5 (commensurate with a Certificate I or secondary education) fell by 4.8%.
Vacancies rose for Professionals (up by 6.9%), Managers (5.5%) and Technicians and Trades Workers (3.4%), while Labourers recorded the strongest decline (down by 10.7%).
The largest increases in vacancies at a more detailed occupational level were recorded for Medical Practitioners and Nurses (up by 1,351 vacancies), Carers and Aides (695 vacancies), Corporate Managers (489 vacancies), Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers (470 vacancies), and Health Diagnostic and Therapy Professionals (468 vacancies).
The largest fall in vacancies was recorded for Hospitality Workers (down by 815 vacancies), followed by General-Inquiry Clerks, Call Centre Workers, and Receptionists (367 vacancies), Sales Assistants and Salespersons (310 vacancies), and Cleaners and Laundry Workers (255 vacancies).
To summarise, there is very little entry level work available for unskilled labour, and what there is, is part time. That can only get worse if the Coalition implement their PaTH scheme.
