Updated 7 August 2017
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Penny
Vandenbroek
Statistics and Mapping
This guide provides a
brief overview of the youth unemployment data available for small geographic
areas. This is one in a series of quick guides related to labour statistics, designed
to provide a basic understanding of Australian labour market data. Other guides
include unemployment, youth
unemployment, labour
force and employment,
which are available from the ‘Your
electorate’ portal on the Parliamentary Library website.
Labour force survey
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
publishes regular labour force estimates through the Labour
Force Survey. The survey is a key
source of information on employment, unemployment, the labour force and
associated rates and ratios. This monthly household survey is based on a sample
of approximately 53,000 respondents across Australia.
The Labour Force Survey is designed
to provide accurate national and state/territory estimates. However, estimates
for regions within the states can also be produced (at a lower level of statistical
quality). Smaller populations mean a smaller pool of people on which to
draw information, which can mean higher sampling errors for some estimates.
Estimates may also be less reliable when split into sub-populations, such as
unemployed people by age groups (i.e. young unemployed).
Unemployment
The ABS defines unemployed
people as:
People aged 15
years and over who were not employed during the survey reference week
and:
-
had actively looked for work and were available to work (in the
reference week), or
-
were waiting to start a new job (within a defined period
Young unemployed people are a sub-set of the
unemployed. Generally, the youth population refers to people aged 15 to 24
years, but this may vary (e.g. 15 to 19 years and/or 20 to 24 years). See Youth
unemployment statistics: a quick guide for more information.
Small area estimates for young
people
For small areas, such as Commonwealth Electoral Divisions
(CEDs), there is limited labour force data available on young people (aged 15
to 24 years). This is due to the number of persons available to be selected for
the survey sample and the volatile nature of small area population estimates.
The exception to this is Census data, however it only relates to a small time
frame every five years (the week prior to Census Night). The most recently
available Census data is at August 2011. The 2016 Census labour data is
expected to be released in October 2017. However, the ABS does release regular
unemployment estimates for labour market regions by selected age groups.
Labour market regions
The ABS geographic structure provides statistical regions
that are relatively stable over time, fairly consistent in size, and that
strive to be representative of underlying settlement patterns and
socio-economic relationships. For example, the geographic areas used for the dissemination of
labour statistics have been designed to reflect large regional centres and
hubs of labour market activity. These areas are referred to as Statistical Area
Level 4 (SA4s) or ‘labour market regions’. Labour force estimates for 87
spatial areas are released each month. SA4s are the largest sub-state regions
in the geographic structure and provide the best sub-state breakdown. More
information is available from the ABS, Information
paper: Regional labour force statistics, 2014 (cat. no. 6262.0).
Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4)
Estimates for SA4s generally relate to a minimum population of 100,000 people per area. In regional areas, populations are closer to the
minimum (100,000 to 300,000), whereas in metropolitan areas, SA4s tend to have
larger populations (300,000 to 500,000). The use of SA4s is guided by the
classification structures within the Australian
Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). More information is provided in Volume
1–Main structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2011 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001, see Expanded Contents>Statistical Area Level 4
(SA4)). Figure 1 (below) provides an overview of relevant geographic levels.
Figure 1. Main
geographic structure of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard
(ASGS), 2011
Source: ABS, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), 2011, Structure diagram.
Which SA4 is most relevant to the
electorate?
A look up list of SA4s has been created for each electorate (Commonwealth
Electoral Divisions, 2016 boundaries)—see Table 1. The suggestions are based on
the SA4(s) in which the largest proportion(s) of electorate population fell
wholly or partly within. The 2015 Estimated
Resident Population (ERP) has been used to approximate the population
for each electorate.
While not an exact match, this method serves as a guide for
selecting the best available regional data. Some electorates will have one
suggestion. For example, the best match for the electorate of Bendigo is
Bendigo SA4 with 95% of the electorate population falling within the SA4. Other
electorates will have a lower proportion of overlap. For example, just under
half (47%) the electorate population of Cook falls within the Sydney–Sutherland
SA4. In some instances, two SA4s are likely to provide a better estimate of
regional labour force conditions. For example, the electorate of Capricornia falls
between – Fitzroy SA4 (44%) and Mackay SA4 (33%). Note: in a few cases, a third
SA4 may be helpful for interpreting the data. The Your electorate web portal
provides a list of suggested labour market regions for each electorate, see ‘Labour’
> Labour
market regions > Look up list (.xlsx).
Using regional labour force data
Each month the ABS releases labour force estimates
by regions through Labour
Force, detailed–electronic delivery (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001, ‘Downloads’
tab). Estimates by these regions (SA4s) are available from October 1998, however,
caution should be used when analysing estimates prior to April 2001, as a new
survey questionnaire was introduced at this time and only core labour force
estimates were revised.
The level of youth unemployment is subject to fluctuations
throughout the year, particularly around peak times of education commencement or
conclusion. Trend and seasonally adjusted data aim to account for these types
of variations. At this time, the ABS produces labour force estimates by SA4 in
an original (unadjusted) series and as a 12-month rolling average. Care should
be taken when analysing any month-to-month, or period-to-period changes in the
original series. Additional information on the reliability of regional
estimates is available from the ABS article, ‘Advice
on reporting regional labour force data’ (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001, Jul
2016). For regional estimates, see:
-
Table 16. Labour force status by labour market region (ASGS) and sex
-
Table 16b. Labour force status by labour market region (ASGS) and
sex, Annual averages of the previous 12 months
-
Table 16c. Median duration of job search by labour market region
(ASGS) and duration of job search
-
Data cube RM1. Labour force status
by age, labour market region (ASGS) and sex, October 1998 onwards
-
Data cube RM3. Unemployed persons
by duration of job search and labour market region (ASGS), July 1991 onwards.
The estimates released by regions and age (RM1) can
be used to assess the youth labour market—employment, unemployment, and
participation rates. They can also be used to look at the older labour market
(e.g. people aged 55 years and over), or other selected age groups of interest.
The use of an annual average (e.g. 12-month rolling) is recommended for
period-to-period comparisons.
Also available by SA4 are estimates of employment by
industry (division) and by occupation (major group). These are not available by
age groups, but are available by gender, see: Labour
force, detailed, quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003, ‘Downloads’ tab,
Data cubes RQ1 and RQ2). While the focus of this paper is on data available at
small geographical levels, (youth) unemployment (and employment) data is
available for states and territories, and parts of state. For state level
estimates, see: Labour
Force, Tables 12, 16, 19, 23 and 25 (cat. no. 6202.0) and for capital
city/balance of state estimates, see: Labour
Force, detailed–electronic delivery, Tables 2, 3, 14c and 20c (cat. no.
6291.0.55.001).
Table 1. Youth unemployment (15 to 24 years) by Statistical Area Level 4
(SA4), 2016 and 2017 (12-month average)
|
12 mths end Jun-16 |
12 mths end Jun-17 |
Region |
Young unemployed ('000) |
Youth labour force
('000) |
Youth unemployment rate (%) |
Young unemployed ('000) |
Youth labour force
('000) |
Youth unemployment rate (%) |
Australia |
264.5 |
2,113.9 |
12.5 |
272.9 |
2,113.6 |
12.9 |
New South Wales |
77.6 |
663.4 |
11.7 |
78.0 |
661.0 |
11.8 |
Greater Sydney |
45.0 |
419.3 |
10.7 |
46.4 |
416.0 |
11.1 |
Central Coast |
5.5 |
32.8 |
16.7 |
5.9 |
34.0 |
17.3 |
Sydney - Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury |
2.6 |
25.4 |
10.3 |
2.5 |
20.7 |
11.9 |
Sydney - Blacktown |
3.7 |
30.3 |
12.4 |
3.7 |
32.5 |
11.5 |
Sydney - City and Inner South |
1.5 |
21.0 |
7.4 |
2.2 |
22.6 |
9.6 |
Sydney - Eastern Suburbs |
#1.6 |
16.3 |
9.7 |
#1.1 |
12.6 |
8.4 |
Sydney - Inner South West |
5.9 |
42.9 |
13.7 |
6.6 |
55.2 |
11.9 |
Sydney - Inner West |
2.0 |
26.0 |
7.5 |
1.9 |
25.7 |
7.4 |
Sydney - North Sydney and Hornsby |
2.7 |
32.7 |
8.2 |
2.6 |
31.7 |
8.3 |
Sydney - Northern Beaches |
#1.2 |
21.9 |
5.7 |
#1.1 |
18.0 |
6.0 |
Sydney - Outer South West |
2.7 |
22.3 |
12.3 |
3.8 |
27.7 |
13.5 |
Sydney - Outer West and Blue Mountains |
2.7 |
31.9 |
8.3 |
2.6 |
32.2 |
8.2 |
Sydney - Parramatta |
5.1 |
42.5 |
11.9 |
4.8 |
32.9 |
14.5 |
Sydney - Ryde |
3.0 |
18.7 |
15.8 |
2.7 |
15.8 |
17.0 |
Sydney - South West |
3.1 |
32.1 |
9.8 |
4.0 |
35.9 |
11.1 |
Sydney - Sutherland |
#1.7 |
22.5 |
7.6 |
~1.0 |
18.4 |
5.6 |
Rest of NSW |
32.6 |
244.1 |
13.3 |
31.6 |
245.0 |
12.9 |
Capital Region |
1.1 |
17.1 |
6.2 |
1.6 |
15.4 |
10.6 |
New South Wales - Central West |
2.6 |
20.9 |
12.5 |
2.2 |
21.3 |
10.5 |
Coffs Harbour - Grafton |
1.0 |
12.9 |
8.0 |
#1.3 |
10.2 |
12.8 |
Far West and Orana |
#1.6 |
9.3 |
17.0 |
^1.3 |
11.5 |
11.1 |
Hunter Valley exc Newcastle |
4.1 |
25.0 |
16.3 |
2.8 |
25.8 |
10.7 |
Illawarra |
4.8 |
30.4 |
15.7 |
4.4 |
34.3 |
12.9 |
Mid North Coast |
2.9 |
13.0 |
22.1 |
2.7 |
17.8 |
15.0 |
Murray |
#1.4 |
10.5 |
13.2 |
#1.2 |
8.9 |
13.0 |
New England and North West |
2.2 |
14.2 |
15.8 |
2.5 |
16.3 |
15.1 |
Newcastle and Lake Macquarie |
5.2 |
43.4 |
12.1 |
4.4 |
40.5 |
10.9 |
Richmond - Tweed |
#2.6 |
20.7 |
12.4 |
2.8 |
19.6 |
14.1 |
Riverina |
0.9 |
13.7 |
6.8 |
2.3 |
15.3 |
15.3 |
Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven |
2.2 |
12.8 |
17.0 |
2.2 |
8.1 |
27.4 |
Victoria |
68.4 |
519.3 |
13.2 |
70.2 |
533.0 |
13.2 |
Greater Melbourne |
55.0 |
400.7 |
13.7 |
57.8 |
410.2 |
14.1 |
Melbourne - Inner |
5.7 |
45.6 |
12.5 |
5.1 |
45.2 |
11.3 |
Melbourne - Inner East |
4.4 |
40.1 |
10.9 |
4.9 |
42.3 |
11.7 |
Melbourne - Inner South |
3.3 |
29.5 |
11.3 |
3.3 |
29.5 |
11.1 |
Melbourne - North East |
5.4 |
41.4 |
13.0 |
7.5 |
42.6 |
17.6 |
Melbourne - North West |
4.8 |
31.0 |
15.6 |
6.5 |
36.3 |
17.9 |
Melbourne - Outer East |
6.1 |
51.6 |
11.9 |
4.2 |
46.7 |
8.9 |
Melbourne - South East |
12.1 |
70.9 |
17.1 |
11.2 |
71.7 |
15.6 |
Melbourne - West |
11.0 |
68.4 |
16.1 |
12.4 |
75.3 |
16.5 |
Mornington Peninsula |
2.1 |
22.2 |
9.7 |
2.7 |
20.6 |
13.2 |
Rest of Vic. |
13.3 |
118.5 |
11.3 |
12.4 |
122.8 |
10.1 |
Ballarat |
2.2 |
12.7 |
17.4 |
~1.0 |
13.2 |
7.5 |
Bendigo |
#1.1 |
13.1 |
8.4 |
#1.0 |
14.2 |
6.8 |
Geelong |
2.4 |
20.6 |
11.5 |
2.6 |
27.7 |
9.4 |
Hume |
1.6 |
14.5 |
11.1 |
2.2 |
16.7 |
13.4 |
Latrobe - Gippsland |
2.9 |
22.3 |
12.8 |
3.2 |
20.3 |
15.8 |
Victoria - North West |
#1.2 |
11.2 |
10.7 |
np |
11.9 |
np |
Shepparton |
1.3 |
13.7 |
9.8 |
1.1 |
8.7 |
12.5 |
Warrnambool and South West |
#0.7 |
10.5 |
6.3 |
#1.0 |
10.0 |
9.8 |
Queensland |
57.9 |
450.0 |
12.9 |
60.2 |
442.1 |
13.6 |
Greater Brisbane |
28.3 |
234.4 |
12.1 |
29.2 |
229.1 |
12.7 |
Brisbane - East |
3.1 |
21.6 |
14.4 |
3.6 |
17.8 |
20.5 |
Brisbane - North |
2.0 |
21.4 |
9.4 |
2.4 |
21.8 |
10.8 |
Brisbane - South |
4.8 |
40.3 |
12.0 |
6.2 |
43.0 |
14.4 |
Brisbane - West |
1.9 |
19.3 |
9.8 |
2.5 |
16.4 |
15.2 |
Brisbane Inner City |
2.0 |
29.0 |
6.7 |
1.8 |
29.0 |
6.2 |
Ipswich |
3.9 |
30.7 |
12.6 |
4.5 |
35.6 |
12.7 |
Logan - Beaudesert |
3.6 |
25.3 |
14.1 |
3.4 |
24.7 |
13.8 |
Moreton Bay - North |
3.9 |
22.8 |
17.0 |
2.8 |
20.9 |
13.2 |
Moreton Bay - South |
3.1 |
24.0 |
13.1 |
#2.0 |
19.9 |
10.2 |
Rest of Qld |
29.7 |
215.5 |
13.8 |
31.0 |
213.0 |
14.5 |
Cairns |
4.0 |
14.9 |
26.6 |
2.6 |
14.8 |
17.2 |
Darling Downs - Maranoa |
#0.8 |
10.9 |
7.5 |
#0.9 |
10.9 |
8.3 |
Fitzroy |
2.1 |
22.2 |
9.4 |
3.0 |
22.1 |
13.7 |
Gold Coast |
7.0 |
59.4 |
11.8 |
6.8 |
60.7 |
11.2 |
Mackay |
1.8 |
16.7 |
10.9 |
2.0 |
19.4 |
10.2 |
Queensland - Outback |
#2.1 |
5.9 |
36.5 |
~2.4 |
4.2 |
56.2 |
Sunshine Coast |
2.8 |
29.3 |
9.4 |
2.7 |
26.5 |
10.2 |
Toowoomba |
1.0 |
12.5 |
7.9 |
1.4 |
13.7 |
10.4 |
Townsville |
4.1 |
24.6 |
16.5 |
4.8 |
21.8 |
21.8 |
Wide Bay |
4.0 |
19.3 |
21.0 |
4.4 |
18.9 |
23.5 |
South Australia |
21.9 |
144.4 |
15.2 |
22.3 |
142.4 |
15.7 |
Greater Adelaide |
17.7 |
115.3 |
15.4 |
18.3 |
113.3 |
16.1 |
Adelaide - Central and Hills |
4.3 |
24.9 |
17.4 |
3.4 |
28.5 |
12.1 |
Adelaide - North |
6.4 |
36.8 |
17.4 |
6.4 |
33.5 |
19.2 |
Adelaide - South |
5.3 |
37.0 |
14.4 |
4.9 |
33.6 |
14.6 |
Adelaide - West |
1.7 |
16.6 |
10.2 |
3.5 |
17.7 |
19.7 |
Rest of SA |
4.1 |
29.1 |
14.2 |
4.0 |
29.1 |
13.8 |
Barossa - Yorke - Mid North |
1.5 |
8.7 |
16.8 |
1.0 |
8.7 |
11.1 |
South Australia - Outback |
#0.7 |
5.0 |
14.5 |
~0.9 |
7.2 |
12.3 |
South Australia - South East |
2.0 |
15.4 |
12.7 |
2.2 |
13.2 |
16.5 |
Western Australia |
26.3 |
235.9 |
11.1 |
29.9 |
232.4 |
12.8 |
Greater Perth |
22.4 |
190.9 |
11.7 |
25.6 |
187.2 |
13.7 |
Mandurah |
#0.8 |
5.6 |
13.5 |
1.2 |
7.3 |
16.6 |
Perth - Inner |
1.2 |
16.6 |
7.1 |
1.8 |
19.5 |
9.0 |
Perth - North East |
2.9 |
24.3 |
11.8 |
3.4 |
18.7 |
18.3 |
Perth - North West |
8.1 |
52.8 |
15.4 |
8.0 |
54.5 |
14.8 |
Perth - South East |
4.6 |
49.8 |
9.3 |
5.4 |
49.6 |
10.9 |
Perth - South West |
4.8 |
41.7 |
11.5 |
5.8 |
37.6 |
15.5 |
Rest of WA |
3.9 |
45.0 |
8.6 |
4.2 |
45.2 |
9.3 |
Bunbury |
0.7 |
13.1 |
5.4 |
#1.1 |
15.7 |
6.8 |
Western Australia - Outback |
2.1 |
22.2 |
9.3 |
#1.5 |
21.0 |
7.1 |
Western Australia - Wheat Belt |
~1.1 |
9.6 |
11.6 |
#1.7 |
8.5 |
19.6 |
Tasmania |
6.8 |
44.4 |
15.3 |
6.6 |
44.7 |
14.9 |
Greater Hobart |
2.8 |
19.1 |
14.5 |
2.7 |
20.1 |
13.6 |
Rest of Tas. |
4.0 |
25.3 |
15.8 |
3.9 |
24.7 |
15.9 |
Launceston and North East |
2.4 |
12.6 |
19.3 |
2.1 |
11.6 |
18.5 |
Tasmania - South East |
0.4 |
1.9 |
19.7 |
0.6 |
2.7 |
21.3 |
Tasmania - West and North West |
1.2 |
10.8 |
11.1 |
1.2 |
10.4 |
11.6 |
Northern Territory |
1.8 |
22.7 |
8.0 |
1.8 |
22.4 |
8.1 |
Darwin |
0.9 |
14.9 |
6.3 |
1.0 |
13.3 |
7.9 |
Northern Territory - Outback |
0.9 |
7.8 |
11.2 |
0.8 |
9.1 |
8.5 |
Australian Capital Territory |
3.8 |
33.9 |
11.3 |
3.9 |
35.5 |
11.0 |
Notes for Table 1
* Annual average calculation
based on 12 months original data.
* There are missing
unemployment estimates for some SA4s. The estimates have not been adjusted, as
the true value is unknown (nil or other). The rates may therefore differ to
those that would result from an adjustment to the base figures. Missing values
are denoted as follows:
# One missing value
~ Two missing values
^ Three or more missing values–interpret estimates
with extreme caution
np
Not published, the estimate has seven missing values.
* Due to the sample size
involved, some sampling errors may be quite high and estimates should therefore
be interpreted with caution.
* There are no sub-territory
regions for the ACT.
* The unemployed are people
who were actively looking for work and available to work within a defined
period.
* The labour force is sum of
the employed and the unemployed.
* The rate is the unemployed
expressed as a proportion of the labour force (in the same age group).
Source: ABS, Labour force, detailed–electronic delivery, Jun 2017, cat. no. 6291.0.55.001 (Data cube RM1)
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