Unemployment falls to 5.1% June 2016 Quarter
Posted on 19th August 2016 by Russell Phillips
Unemployment down slightly
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 5.1 percent in the June 2016 quarter (from a revised 5.2 percent in the March 2016 quarter). There were 1,000 fewer people unemployed over the June quarter, down to 131,000.
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were 2,000 fewer women unemployed in the June 2016 quarter. Their unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 5.4 percent. The unemployment rate for men decreased 0.1 percentage point, down to 4.7 percent.
Employment
The June 2016 quarter estimates suggest employment growth of 2.4 percent (58,000 people), and that the employment rate has reached 66.2 percent. However, some of the changes to the redeveloped HLFS need to be considered when interpreting this quarter’s results. Overall, the new survey appears to be estimating a higher level (or stock) of employment than the previous HLFS.