Australia Yearbook - 2001

244 Year Book Australia 2001
6.44 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Trade union
LFS
%
30
20
10
0
1904 1913 1923 1932 1942 1951 1961 1970 1980 1989 1999
Source: Trade union unemployment data; ABS Labour Report, 1906–1954;
Labour Force Survey, State Capitals, 1960–1964;
Labour Force Survey, 1966–1999.
In 1910–11, 98,000 or approximately 6% of all
employed persons worked in the mining
industry. A substantial decline in employment in
mining occurred in the early part of the century,
falling to 2% of total employment by 1927–28. In
1999 mining employed 76,000 persons, less
than 1% of all employed persons.
Agriculture and related industries (forestry,
fishing and hunting) employed 422,000 persons,
or 26% of total employment, in 1910–11. Apart
from a brief resurgence at the time of the
Depression, the relative importance of
employment in these primary industries has
been in steady decline for many decades,
although the rate of decline has slowed in
recent years. Notably, the number of persons
employed in agriculture and related industries
in 1999 was similar to that early in the century,
but the proportion of total employment had
declined significantly to around 5%
(graph 6.45).
Manufacturing was one of the most important
industries throughout much of the twentieth
century. In 1910–11 it employed 361,000
persons, accounting for 21% of total
employment. Employment in manufacturing
grew rapidly after the Depression, reaching 33%
of all employed persons by the mid-1940s. From
the mid-1960s, when employment in
manufacturing stood at 25%, the proportion fell
6.45 EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY
Manufacturing
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Mining
Other industries
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
1911 1920 1930 1940 1950 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999
Source: Keating (1973) 1910–1961; Labour Force Survey 1966–1999.