The Australian Bureau of Statistics will revise all its labor force estimates for the 10 months from Dec 2013 to Sept 2014 on Tuesday at 0030 GMT, officials announced today.
October jobs numbers are due on Friday but this statement could be more important. Aside from the swath of revisions it will try to explain the imbroglio that led to the massive swings in the August/September jobs data along with the embarrassing correction.
All this data will be revised tomorrow
It will also have implications for Friday’s jobs report and could change the RBA’s thinking. What’s unfortunate is that the RBA decision is also tomorrow but you would have to think they got a preview of what’s coming.
A conspiracy theorist might even look at the 1% drop in the Australian dollar today and see something amiss. Then again, the saying goes “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”
Here is the official release from the ABS that announces what is coming tomorrow:
Australian Statistician to release statement on Labour Force estimates
The acting Australian Statistician, Jonathan Palmer, will release a statement tomorrow (Tuesday 4 November 2014) on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Labour Force estimates. This follows the ABS announcement in the September 2014 issue of Labour Force, Australia that it would conduct a review to ensure that high quality Labour Force estimates continue to be produced.
The statement will provide background information on issues identified in seasonally adjusted Labour Force estimates over the period July to September 2014, on the investigations undertaken to understand these issues, and the approach for the October 2014 Labour Force estimates, which will be released at 11.30 am Canberra time on Thursday 6 November 2014.
Tuesday’s statement will include revised seasonally adjusted estimates for total employed persons, total unemployed persons and the unemployment rate for the period December 2013 to September 2014. These estimates have been calculated using a new seasonal adjustment method identified in the review. The ABS will provide the revised estimates ahead of the October 2014 Labour Force release to ensure that interested parties have an opportunity to consider the implications, if any.