Long term trends
REMPLAN Economy includes annual employment estimates for every year from 2016. These modelled estimates sit alongside Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data, filling in the gaps between the five-yearly Census releases.
The estimates are produced by the REMPLAN Employment Model. The model uses the Census as its primary benchmark, then draws on several official Australian Government datasets to track how employment has moved in the intercensal periods and since the latest Census.
The employment estimates describe what has already happened, based on key data. The model combines six data sources to produce each estimate:
ABS Census place-of-work employment
ABS Australian Industry data
ABS Labour Force Survey
ABS Business Counts
ABS Estimated Resident Population
Jobs and Skills Australia Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation
Each source is weighted based on how well it tracked actual Census outcomes between 2016 and 2021. Sources that performed better for a given region type or industry get more weight. The model adjusts these weights to maximise the model performance and accuracy.
Finding employment data in REMPLAN Economy
Economic reports
The latest employment figures appear on the Employment Report section in REMPLAN Economy.
To find them:
Open your region from the Regions panel.
Navigate to Reports in the left navigation pane.
Select the Employment report.
Comparing across years
Many economic questions relate to change and trends. Is this industry growing or contracting? How does this region compare to five years ago? The annual employment estimates facilitate comparisons over time.
Here is how to see that change:
Navigate to the Regions panel (top left on the grey navigation menu)
Select the Historical Datasets button
Under 'Select Historical Datasets', scroll down and look for the releases for the years to open. In the screenshot below, datasets for 2024 back to 2021 have been selected.
Select 'OK'
Navigate to the Reports panel (top left on the grey navigation menu)
In the left sidebar is the Compare section. Turn on the previous years to compare and see employment trends by industry.
More information about REMPLAN employment data
Place of work, not place of residence
All employment estimates in REMPLAN Economy (aside from a selection of reports in the Workforce module) measure jobs at the location where work is performed, not where workers live. A mining region may show high employment even if few workers actually reside there. This is by design, and consistent across all years.
Time period
Annual estimates are available from 2016 onwards. Census years are aligned with ABS Census estimates, providing beginning and ending anchor points for intercensal years. Estimates extending beyond the last census are guided by the indicators from the other official data sources.
Geography
All geographies active in REMPLAN Economy are covered, including:
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Statistical Areas (SA2, SA3, SA4, GCCSA and States)
Destination zones (DZs)
These geographies form a master set of geographies that become the building blocks REMPLAN uses to construct all Economy regions. Where a region sits below that layer, a separate econometric model is used to estimate employment.
Industry
Employment figures are available at the detailed 114-sector level. Broad 1-digit Australia New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) figures are estimated first, then split into detailed industry categories using historical Census industry shares blended with NERO estimates (produced at a highly detailed occupation level).
More information
For questions about the methodology and interpretation please contact our team for support.