June employment is at a record high of 12,330,000

• Australia’s real unemployment for June was 8.9% (1.2 million). In addition 1.445 million Australians were under-employed in June (10.7% of the workforce). A total of 2.645 million Australians 19.6% of the workforce) looking for work or looking for more work;
  
  
• The increase in employment was driven by a large increase in full-time employment which rose 308,000 to a record 8,100,000 and also part-time employment rose 279,000 to 4,230,000;
  
  
• Real unemployment is at 8.9%, down 0.7% from a year ago but under-employment is up 2.4% to 10.7% over the same period;
  
  
• The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for May 2017 (5.5%).

Gary Morgan, Executive Chairman, Roy Morgan Research, says Australian employment is growing but not fast enough to reduce Australia’s high unemployment and under-employment:

“The Australian economy is growing and generating new jobs – a total of 587,000 over the last year means Australia has a record 12,330,000 people employed in mid-2017.

“Although the longer-term trend shows increasing part-time jobs at the expense of full-time jobs over the past year both grew strongly. Full-time employment increased 308,000 to a record 8,100,000 and part-time employment increased by 279,000 to 4,230,000.

“However, despite the strong employment growth total unemployment and under-employment grew by 319,000 to 2,645,000 over the past year. This total of 2.645 million Australians unemployed or under-employed is the 21st straight month more than 2 million Australians have been looking for work or looking for more work and is a concern ahead of the imminent closure of the Australian automotive manufacturing industry in three months.”

This Roy Morgan survey on Australia’s unemployment and ‘under-employed’* is based on weekly face-to-face interviews of 538,961 Australians aged 14 and over between January 2007 – June 2017 and includes 3,843 face-to-face interviews in June 2017.

*The ‘under-employed’ are those people who are in part-time work or consultants who are looking for more work. (Unfortunately the ABS does not release this figure in their monthly unemployment survey results).

For further information:

Roy Morgan Unemployed and ‘Under-employed’* Estimates

*Workforce includes those employed and those looking for work – the unemployed.

ROY MORGAN MEASURES REAL UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA
NOT THE ‘PERCEPTION’ OF UNEMPLOYMENT – JUNE 8, 2012

http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Papers/2012/20120603.pdf

The Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate is obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section by face-to-face interviews. A person is classified as unemployed if they are looking for work, no matter when. The results are not seasonally adjusted and provide an accurate measure of monthly unemployment estimates in Australia.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are obtained by mostly telephone interviews. Households selected for the ABS Survey are interviewed each month for eight months, with one-eighth of the sample being replaced each month. The first interview is conducted face-to-face. Subsequent interviews are then conducted by telephone.

The ABS classifies a person as unemployed if, when surveyed, they have been actively looking for work in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and if they were available for work in the reference week.

The ABS classifies a person as employed if, when surveyed, a person worked for one hour or more during the reference week for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, or even if a person worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are also seasonally adjusted.

For these reasons the Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are different from the Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate. Gary Morgan's concerns regarding the ABS Unemployment estimate is clearly outlined in his letter to the Australian Financial Review, which was not published.

http://www.roymorgan.com/news/papers/2003/20030801

Unemployment Data Tables

Roy Morgan Research Employment Estimates (2001-2017)

Roy Morgan Research Unemployment & Under-employment Estimates (2007-2017)

Roy Morgan Research vs ABS Employment Estimates (1992-2017)

ABS Employment Estimates (1992-2017)

ROY MORGAN MEASURES REAL UNEMPLOYMENT IN AUSTRALIA

http://www.roymorgan.com/~/media/Files/Papers/2012/20120603.pdf

The Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate is obtained by surveying an Australia-wide cross section by face-to-face interviews. A person is classified as unemployed if they are looking for work, no matter when.

The results are not seasonally adjusted and provide an accurate measure of monthly unemployment estimates in Australia.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are obtained by mostly telephone interviews. Households selected for the ABS Survey are interviewed each month for eight months, with one-eighth of the sample being replaced each month. The first interview is conducted face-to-face. Subsequent interviews are then conducted by telephone.

The ABS classifies a person as unemployed if, when surveyed, they have been actively looking for work in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and if they were available for work in the reference week.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are also seasonally adjusted.

For these reasons the Australian Bureau of Statistics Unemployment estimates are different from the Roy Morgan Unemployment estimate. Gary Morgan's concerns regarding the ABS Unemployment estimate is clearly outlined in his letter to the Australian Financial Review, which was not published.

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.