DESE - SALM - Smoothed Labour Force (SA2) Q4 2010 - Q3 2021

This datasets presents regional estimates of the labour force of Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) regions for each quarter starting December 2010 up to September 2021. The boundaries used for the dataset follow the 2016 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Small Area Labour Markets (SALM) presents regional estimates of unemployment and the unemployment rate at two small area levels:

• Approximately 2,200 ABS SA2s, on a State/Territory and Metropolitan/Non-metropolitan basis. Estimates for the Capital City and the Rest of State are provided for the States and the Northern Territory.

• For approximately 540 Australian LGAs.

The SALM Estimates have been smoothed using a four-quarter average to minimise the variability inherent in small area estimates. A description of the methodology used to prepare the estimates in this publication is available on the Explanatory Notes page.

Caution: Highly disaggregated estimates of unemployment and the unemployment rate at the SA2 and LGA level can display significant variability and should be viewed with caution, particularly in regions where the SA4 level unemployment data are showing considerable volatility. As a result, quarter-to-quarter comparisons may not indicate actual movements in the labour market so we recommend using year-on-year comparisons. Even then, large movements in the SA2 and LGA data should be viewed with caution.

The COVID-19 pandemic began to have a significant impact on the Australian labour market from March 2020, when Australia recorded its 100th COVID-19 case and the initial shutdown of non-essential services and trading restrictions took effect. Learn more about the dataset at the LMIP (Labour Market Information Portal).

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Smoothed Estimates are not available for all SA2s and LGAs, for more information see the SALM 2016 ASGS Changeover User Guide.