The health of a labor market can be judged by unemployment levels and the trend in wage growth. Both of these questions come into play when the Australian Financial Review reports that Australia's labor market has tightened over the past twelve months and comments on its forecast for the year ahead. The evolution of unemployment in Australia is a key issue in this news article. Over the past twelve months, unemployment in Australia has fallen from 5.6 percent to 5.1 percent, which is described as "a headache" in the news article. Looking closer, there are a few possible explanations for this change in statistics. Previously, unemployment in Australia increased during the recent global economic downturn, although it did not suffer as much as other countries, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. However, while unemployment has increased, the number of people living in other forms of underemployment, such as part-time or casual work, has also increased (OECD, 2010). According to Sappey et. al., employment status requires workers to work only one hour per week and thus many underemployed workers receive the same employee status in these data as full-time workers (Sappey et. al. , 2010, p. 111). According to the OECD, it was underemployment that increased significantly during the recession, rather than unemployment. Unemployment has fallen over the past twelve months, but that doesn't mean those who found jobs have secured full-time employment. In fact, based on Australian labor market trends over the past twelve months, it is more than likely that those who became 'employed' rather than 'unemployed' did not find full-time work. This news article cites figures from...... middle of document ......MinimumWagesCase/default.aspx.Dwyer, M. (August 18, 2010). The labor market remains firm but the pressure on wages is contained. The Australian Financial Review, p. 6.Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2010) Employment Outlook 2010 – How does Australia compare? Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/14/38/45603025.pdf. Reserve Bank of Australia (2010). Minutes of Board Monetary Policy Meeting – August 3, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2010 from http://www.rba.gov.au/monetary-policy/rba-board-minutes/2010/03082010 .html.Reserve Bank of Australia (2010). Measures of consumer price inflation. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www.rba.gov.au/inflation/measures-cpi.html.Sappey, R., Burgess, J., Lyons, M. and Buultjens, J. (2009). Industrial Relations in Australia: Work and the Workplace. French Forest: Pearson Australia.