Policy changes and the natural rate of unemployment
Go to the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au). Look under the links `Statistics', `By Catalogue Number', `6'..., `62..', `6202', `Downloads', `Table 01', ‘Data1' worksheet.
a. What are the latest monthly data (July 2015) on the size of the Australian labour force, on the number of unemployed and on the unemployment rate?
b. How many people are employed? What is the proportion of part-time employment? How has that proportion changed over the past 20 years? What would be the implication of that changing proportion for the natural rate of unemployment?
c. Calculate the change in the number of unemployed from the first number available in this spreadsheet to the most recent month. Do the same for the number of employed workers. Is the decline in unemployment equal to the increase in employment? Explain in words.