In this paper we examine unemployment rate dispersion across the (statistical) regions in the Melbourne metropolitan area. We find that the level of dispersion is positively correlated with the unemployment rate in all the regions taken together and that the ‘elasticity’ of dispersion with...

In this paper we look at the way in which the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) derives gross flows data from successive Labour Force Surveys. The procedure used by the ABS is described and a measure of the ‘matching rate’ obtained. We develop a simple theoretical model designed to...

This paper explores the following question - Has there been any long-run increase (or decrease) in the ‘incidence’ of long-term unemployment once we have corrected for cyclical factors? Our research leads us to conclude that: (i) the incidence of male long-term unemployment has been neither...