LIVING IN AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIAN LABOUR MARKET

The Australian workforce has experienced many structural improvements over the last decade, which has contributed to the growth in job creation and productivity. In the last two years, employment has grown by more than 2% per annum.

• In May 2008, the unemployment rate was just 4.3% and has remained low despite the changing global economic climate.
• In 1999 - 2000, 24% of the labour force was comprised of employees born in countries other than Australia. This means that almost a quarter of the workforce was made up of migrants living and working in Australia.
• In recent years, there has been a remarkable shift from manufacturing to service industries. About 36.5% of Australians now work in professional, technical, managerial or administrative jobs.
• In 2000, Australia was ranked 11th in the world for overall productivity, as measured by GDP per person employed.

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