UNDEREMPLOYMENT – AUSTRALIA

Jobless rate supertanker heads lower

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 15-Jun-18

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 12,000 jobs were created in May, although economists had forecast that the economy added 19,000 jobs. An additional 32,600 part-time jobs partially offset the loss of 20,600 full-time positions. The official unemployment rate fell by 0.2 per cent to 5.4 per cent, which is its lowest level since November 2012. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate rose by 0.1 per cent to 8.5 per cent and the proportion of people who are employed but looking for more work was steady at 13.9 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Australian employment up by over 350,000 in a year

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Jun-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 12,415,000 Australians were employed in May 2018, an increase of 355,000 over the last year. The increase was driven by full-time employment, which rose 307,000 to 7,859,000; part-time employment was up 48,000 to 4,286,000. The figures also show that 1,316,000 million Australians were unemployed (9.8% of the workforce) in May, an increase of 32,000 (unchanged in percentage terms) on a year ago. In addition, 1,251,000 Australians (9.3% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a fall of 87,000 in a year (down 0.9%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.8% for May is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for April of 5.6%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the Fair Work Commission’s decision to raise the minimum wage by 3.5% to almost $720 per week was based on the misleading ABS unemployment figure that under-states the "true" level of unemployment and under-employment in Australia. In future the FWC needs to consider the more accurate Roy Morgan employment figures that consistently records that there are more than 2.5 million Australians looking for work or looking for more work.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Most lack full-time jobs with benefits

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 29-May-18

Analysis of official data by the Centre for Future Work shows that just 49.97 per cent of full-time workers in Australia had paid leave entitlements in 2017, compared with 51.35 per cent in 2012. The proportion of part-time jobs across the economy has in turn risen from 29.7 per cent to a record 31.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of workers who are underemployed has risen from 7.6 per cent to 9.1 per cent over the last five years. The data also shows that 12.4 per cent of employees in the private sector are now covered by enterprise agreements, down from 18.9 per cent in 2012. However, the proportion of workers covered by industry awards has risen from 16.6 per cent to 23.6 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED. CENTRE FOR FUTURE WORK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Part-time employment hits record high and 1.35m now under-employed

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-May-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 11,962,000 Australians were employed in April 2018 – an increase of 46,000 over the last year. The increase was driven by part-time employment, which rose 154,000 to a record 4,454,000; full-time employment was down 108,000 to 7,508,000. The figures also show that 1,196,000 million Australians were unemployed (9.1% of the workforce) in April, a decrease of 88,000 (down 0.7%) on a year ago. In addition, 1,349,000 Australians (10.2% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 259,000 in a year (up 1.9%). Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 9.1% for April is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for March of 5.5%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the continuing strength in part-time employment is causing under-employment levels to spike from already high levels, and it is imperative that the May 2018 Federal Budget seriously considers the continuing high levels of unemployment and under-employment.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Employment at record high but over 2.5m looking for more work

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 1.21 million Australians were unemployed (8.9% of the workforce) in March 2018, a decrease of 26,000 (down 0.4%) on a year ago. In addition, 1.36 million Australians (10.0% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 258,000 in a year (up 1.6%). The figures also show that a record 12,374,000 Australians were employed in March – an increase of 399,000 over the last year. Roy Morgan’s real unemployment figure of 8.9% for March is substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for February 2018 of 5.6%. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that given the large number of Australians directly, or even indirectly impacted, by unemployment and under-employment it is no surprise that issues relating to unemployment, job security and the search for jobs is one of the key issues Australians mention unprompted when asked about the biggest problem facing Australia in early in 2018.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Australians back at work in February, full-time employment hits record

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Mar-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows 1.31 million Australians were unemployed in February (9.7% of the workforce); an increase of 57,000 (up 0.3%) on a year ago. In addition 1.21 million Australians (10.2% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 73,000 in a year (up 0.4%). The same survey also showed that 12,228,000 Australians were employed in February – an increase of 133,000 over the past year equal to an average of just over 10,000 jobs added per month. The increase in employment year on year was driven entirely by an increase in full-time employment which rose 249,000 to a record high 8,153,000 while part-time employment fell 116,000 to 4,075,000. Roy Morgan real unemployment figures of 9.7% for February are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate for January 2018 of 5.5%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

2.59m Australians unemployed or under-employed in January

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Feb-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 1.219 million Australians were unemployed (9.1% of the workforce) in January 2018, a decrease of 76,000 (down 0.6%) on a year ago. In addition, 1.371 million Australians (10.2% of the workforce) were under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 264,000 in a year. In total, 2.59 million Australians were unemployed or under-employed in January. The figures also show that 12,236,000 Australians were employed in January – an increase of 116,000 over the past year. The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate of 5.5% for December 2017. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says jobs growth in calendar year 2017 was driven entirely by growth in part-time employment, which may partly explain why Australians do not believe that the monthly ABS unemployment estimates are accurate.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

2.6m Australians unemployed or under-employed in December

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Jan-18

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 1.312 million Australians were unemployed (9.8% of the workforce) in December 2017, an increase of 126,000 (up 0.6%) on a year ago. In addition, 1.288 million Australians (9.6% of the workforce) are now under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 188,000 in a year. The figures also show that 12,098,000 Australians were employed in December, an increase of 392,000 over the past year. The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate of 5.4% for November. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says more than 2 million Australians have been either unemployed or under-employed for 27 straight months stretching back to late 2015, and until the Government undertakes significant industrial relations reform to cut red tape, target the rorts of the "cash economy" and provide the proper incentives for employers to take on new employees, Australian wage growth will continue to lag expectations and historical averages.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

2.394m Australians unemployed or under-employed in November

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-Dec-17

A Roy Morgan survey shows that 1.288 million Australians were unemployed (9.8% of the workforce) in November 2017, an increase of 89,000 (up 0.6%) on a year ago. In addition, 1.106 million Australians (8.4% of the workforce) were under-employed, working part-time and looking for more work, a rise of 6,000 in a year. In total, 2.394 million Australians were unemployed or under-employed in November. The figures also show that 11,886,000 Australians were employed in November – an increase of 39,000 over the past year. The Roy Morgan real unemployment figures are substantially higher than the current ABS estimate of 5.4% for October. Roy Morgan executive chairman Gary Morgan says it has now been more than two years, or 26 straight months, that more than two million Australians have been unemployed or under-employed. It is this "slack" in the Australian labour market that is responsible for the low wage growth mentioned by the RBA this week in their Statement explaining their decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 1.5%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Governments, Treasury officials and RBA forecasters all work in sheltered workshops

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Original article by P.D Jonson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 34 : 29-Nov-17

In developed nations, governments have opted for definitions of unemployment that make things look better than they really are. For over a decade, Roy Morgan (and myself) have been pointing this out. The latest Roy Morgan survey shows 2.3 million Australians unemployed or underemployed. In percentages of the workforce, this is 9.5 per cent unemployed and 8.5 per cent under-employed, well above the official 5.4 per cent unemployment figure. Hardly shooting the lights out. One might be tempted to imagine that governments, Treasury officials and RBA forecasters all work in sheltered workshops and are the last to accept messages that run against their workshop’s findings. Indeed, their proven blindness has larger consequences. Click for PDF version.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY