Unemployment rates and percentages can make very interesting reading, especially when looking at the Trend rates, or the Seasonally adjusted rates, or even the original figures themselves. It can be confusing, for some, especially if you compare one series in one period to another series in another period, and you end up comparing apples and oranges.
So, what are the real figures ?
I looked at some original numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and calculated some percentages, based on those original numbers. To avoid seasonal fluctuations, I looked only at the September figures in each year.
Looking at the following, it looks easy to see the trend for yourselves.
Percentage of civilian population over 15 looking for Full time work
- 3.65% Sep-1990
- 5.16% Sep-1991
- 5.49% Sep-1992
- 5.55% Sep-1993
- 4.60% Sep-1994
- 4.17% Sep-1995
- 4.29% Sep-1996
- 4.11% Sep-1997
- 3.92% Sep-1998
- 3.36% Sep-1999
- 2.88% Sep-2000
- 3.28% Sep-2001
- 2.91% Sep-2002
- 2.75% Sep-2003
- 2.42% Sep-2004
- 2.29% Sep-2005
- 2.12% Sep-2006
- 1.81% Sep-2007
- 1.87% Sep-2008
- 2.74% Sep-2009
The average over that 20 year period has been 3.47%, Â so, as at September 2009, considerably LOWER (21.04%) than the average have been looking for full time work.
Percentage of civilian population over 15 employed full time
- 46.77% Sep-1990
- 44.22% Sep-1991
- 42.74% Sep-1992
- 42.68% Sep-1993
- 43.80% Sep-1994
- 44.36% Sep-1995
- 43.74% Sep-1996
- 43.26% Sep-1997
- 43.65% Sep-1998
- 43.50% Sep-1999
- 44.11% Sep-2000
- 43.15% Sep-2001
- 43.07% Sep-2002
- 43.25% Sep-2003
- 43.62% Sep-2004
- 44.32% Sep-2005
- 45.00% Sep-2006
- 45.21% Sep-2007
- 45.41% Sep-2008
- 43.70% Sep-2009
The average over that 20 year period has been 43.98%, so as at September 2009, slightly FEWER (0.64%) than the average have been employed full time.
Percentage of civilian population over 15 employed part time
- 12.90% Sep-1990
- 13.31% Sep-1991
- 13.90% Sep-1992
- 13.86% Sep-1993
- 14.26% Sep-1994
- 14.64% Sep-1995
- 14.93% Sep-1996
- 15.25% Sep-1997
- 15.51% Sep-1998
- 15.74% Sep-1999
- 16.07% Sep-2000
- 16.33% Sep-2001
- 16.83% Sep-2002
- 16.96% Sep-2003
- 16.98% Sep-2004
- 17.44% Sep-2005
- 17.58% Sep-2006
- 17.77% Sep-2007
- 17.59% Sep-2008
- 18.18% Sep-2009
The average over that 20 year period has been 15.8%, so, as at September 2009, considerably MORE (15.05%) than the average have been working Part time.
Percentage of civilian population over 15 in employment, Full or Part time
- 59.67% Sep-1990
- 57.53% Sep-1991
- 56.64% Sep-1992
- 56.55% Sep-1993
- 58.05% Sep-1994
- 59.00% Sep-1995
- 58.67% Sep-1996
- 58.51% Sep-1997
- 59.17% Sep-1998
- 59.24% Sep-1999
- 60.18% Sep-2000
- 59.47% Sep-2001
- 59.90% Sep-2002
- 60.21% Sep-2003
- 60.59% Sep-2004
- 61.76% Sep-2005
- 62.58% Sep-2006
- 62.98% Sep-2007
- 62.99% Sep-2008
- 61.88% Sep-2009
The average over that 20 year period has been 59.78%, so, as at September 2009, slightly MORE (3.51%) than the average have been in Employment of one kind or another.
The above figures were all calculated from the actual numbers of employed and unemployed from the September 2009 edition of the ABS 6202.0 Labour Force, Australia
Calculations:
- The average 20 year figure is taken as the sum of all 20 numbers divided by 20.
- The change from average is taken as the difference between September 2009 and the 20 year average, as a percentage of that 20 year average.
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Shit statistics, blatantly incorrect in many circumstances. Troll effort
I would love to hear your reasons, and revised figures, for any inaccuracies that have been found.
Your final 2 words, I can only assume relate to your own comment ?
where did you get the data, it doesn’t seem to be correct from what I have been looking up (CIA factbook and Worldbank).
Australian Bureau of Statistics, official government figures, for the September quarter each year.
The Worldbank figures relate to “Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)”
My figures relate to Percentage of civilian population over 15 looking for Full time work.
Column AQ of the 6202.0 Labour Force, Australia Table 03. Labour force status by Sex
Unemployment to population ratio – looking for full time work ; Persons ;
This is designed to show the trend over time, and the Sept 2010 figure is 2.25% while the Sept 2011 figure is 2.40%.
These are two different statistics, one being total labour force (Full Time and Part Time), the other looking at Full Time work only.
The figures I have shown will be no use for a comparison to those comparing part time unemployment figures. The Worldbank figures are not relevant to either Full Time OR Part Time individually, as they combine them both into one figure.
Worldbank unemployment show a change from 4.2% in 2008 to 5.6% in 2009 (their latest figure), but they also state: “Definitions of labor force and unemployment differ by country.” Which definition are they using?
This does highlight the varying methods of defining unemployment, and shows how apples cannot be compared to oranges, as I explained in the first paragraph of the article.