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This page contains a number of statistical briefs and Excel-based tools produced by the Department's Queensland Labour Economics Office (LEO). They focus on basic labour force status and employment indicators for the State of Queensland and its component Statistical Regions. |
This brief in MS Word format is produced each month with the release of 'headline' seasonally adjusted and trend labour force data by the ABS. The brief contains data at the State level on a range of basic labour force indicators, presented in a number of tables and time series charts. Comparisons with the corresponding national figures are given in some cases.
Monthly labour force brief
This Excel workbook is based on the monthly 'Detailed Release' of labour force data by the ABS. It is based on original (ie unadjusted) data on a full range of basic labour force indicators, including local unemployment rates, down to the level of Statistical Regions. The 'detailed release' follows one week after the release of 'headline' seasonally adjusted and trend data at State level.
The Excel workbook presents the key regional data in a set of standard tables and a selectable range of comparison charts and time series charts. Both three month averaging and 12 month averaging of original data are used to reduce unacceptable levels of sampling volatility in the original data series for small regions. To use the selectable charting functions in this workbook, you must have macros enabled.
Three month averages have the advantage of a much sharper time focus, but have higher relative sampling errors, while seasonal influences can be very significant in some data series. Twelve month averages are less volatile and mostly suppress seasonal influences. They are therefore more reliable for looking at longer term developments in local labour markets. Averaging over 12 months, however, only gives an overall outcome for the whole preceding year.
The present structure of Statistical Regions was introduced by the ABS in February 2009 and resulted in significant changes in South East Queensland. Historical data for new or significantly changed regions are only available back to November 2007. For most data items in these regions, a proxy historical series has been synthesised from old regional data using the distribution patterns within regions that applied in the 2006 Census.
Synthetic data must be regarded as giving a broad indication of likely historical values only. Furthermore, this technique cannot be applied to unemployment data and longer term historical unemployment data is therefore missing in time series charts for affected regions.
Regional labour force statistics
This is an Excel-based data tool containing data on broad industries of employment at the regional level. It presents 'industry of employment' data in selectable graphs and tables for each of the Statistical Regions of Queensland and is updated each quarter when the ABS releases new industry data. Statistical Regions are the same areas used in the main monthly regional labour force data release.
This data tool uses both the new regional structure introduced by the ABS in February 2009 and the newer ANZSIC 2006 industry classification. It allows users to choose between five different 'profile' charts and tables for any selected region by selecting from any of the following topics: employment levels by industry; employment growth by industry over one or five years; the percentage contribution of each industry to employment in the region, and the percentage of national employment within the region for each industry. Macros must be enabled for it to work and the area of interest selected from the drop-down list.
The data used in the profile charts and tables have been averaged over four quarters to minimise the volatility seen in results for a single quarter. For example, 'One Year Employment Growth' represents the difference between the average over the four quarters of data to the current quarter and the average over the preceding four quarters. This approach comes at the cost of a loss of sharp time focus in what can be a rapidly changing labour market.
A time series chart of employment by industry over ten years can also be produced for any selected region and any selected industry. Both the original data series and a four quarter moving average are plotted. The apparent degree of random variation in the original series provides a useful indication at a glance of the reliability of the underlying data.
Six of the regions around South East Queensland were created, or substantially affected, by the recent ABS regional restructure. Data for these regions prior to November 2007 have been 'synthesised' using data for old regions and the pattern of industry employment within regions in the 2006 Census. The workbook identifies these cases when selected and the affected data must be regarded as providing only a broad indication of possible values.
These are two Excel-based tools containing data on the number of people employed in Queensland as a whole in particular detailed industries and occupations of employment. The data are presented as time series charts of the numbers employed over the last seven years. These tools are updated each quarter when the ABS releases new data.
Industries of employment are broken down to the Group level (ie 3-digit codes) of the ANZSIC 2006 classification system, while the occupations of employed people are broken down to the Unit Group (ie 4-digit codes) of the ANZSCO First Edition classification system. Macros must be enabled for these Excel tools to work and the industry or occupation of interest must be selected from the drop-down list.
Original data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey have been used in these workbooks (plotted as a thin blue line) but the charts include a moving average trendline over the preceding four quarters (the thicker red line) which often gives a better indication of longer term movements in the number of people employed. The degree of 'jaggedness' in the blue line gives a rough visual indication of the potential scale of the sampling errors involved, and hence the reliability of the numbers. Generally, only large occupations/industries, or groupings of them, produce resonably reliable results.
Detailed industry of employment
NOTE: Production of this data reference has been affected by the new regional structure introduced by the ABS in its February 2009 data release. A new data tool based on these regions will be developed by the end of 2009 but time series analysis will not be possible for many Queensland regions for several years. In the meantime, the existing data reference (current to January 2009) will remain.
This Excel workbook presents data on long-term unemployment rates, overall unemployment rates and the average length of unemployment in graphical format. The workbook is based on the monthly 'detailed release' of labour force data by the ABS.
Twelve month averaging of original labour force data has been used throughout this workbook. For instance, the time series graphs use a twelve month moving average over the preceding year.
Twelve month averaging has been used because of significant month-to-month volatility in smaller categories, such as the number of very long term unemployed in a single region. It has the additional advantage of minimising seasonal factors in the underlying original data. However, it comes at a cost in terms of time focus and will result in discrepancies with our main monthly regional labour force product, which is based on three month averaging.
These documents in Microsoft Word format examine a wide range of data derived from the 2006 Census for each of the three DEEWR Labour Market Regions (LMRs) in Queensland. The DEEWR regional structure used is the one that applied from 2003 to 2009.
The data apply to employed people only and are based on their place of work, rather than their place of usual residence or where they were counted on Census night. This can be an important distinction in the case of Employment Service Areas (ESAs) - smaller sub-regions of the LMRs that are examined in some detail in these LMR Profiles. It means that the data are concerned with the kind of jobs available in an area rather than the nature of the people who live there.
The focus of the LMR profiles is on structural features of the employment available in LMRs and their component ESAs, and on the basic demographic characteristics of the LMR or ESA workforce. These are fairly stable over time, making them more amenable to analysis using Census data. Only the Census can provide the level of detail needed to examine highly specific aspects of these issues in relatively small geographical areas.