Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

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Experimental weekly estimates on the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on employee jobs and wages, sourced from Single Touch Payroll data

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Reference period
Week ending 13 June 2020
Released
30/06/2020
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Key statistics

Between the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) and the week ending 13 June 2020:

  • Payroll jobs decreased by 6.4%
  • Total wages paid decreased by 6.3%

Key findings

  1. Wages data are more sensitive to period-to-period changes in reporting than jobs data and are therefore subject to greater revisions over time. They are also subject to a greater degree of seasonality. Please refer to the Methodology for further information.

Between the week ending 6 June 2020 and the week ending 13 June 2020:

  • Payroll jobs showed no change (0.0%), compared to an increase of 0.2% in the previous week
  • Total wages paid increased by 0.2%, compared to a increase of 0.3% in the previous week
     

Key COVID-19 dates:

  • 22 March: Prime Minister announces Stage 2 lock down changes, which are progressively implemented
  • 30 March: Prime Minister announces JobKeeper program
  • 8 May: Initial payroll deadline for the JobKeeper program
  • 8 May: Prime Minister announces RoadMap to a COVIDSafe Australia

Jobs and wages by state and territory

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Victoria decreased by 7.6% and Tasmania decreased by 7.3%
  • Total wages: New South Wales decreased by 7.6% and Western Australia decreased by 7.3%
     

Between the week ending 6 June 2020 and the week ending 13 June 2020, the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Australian Capital Territory decreased by 0.8% and Western Australia increased by 0.7%
  • The largest change in total wages were in the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia
     

Table 1 - Percentage changes by states and territories (a)

 Change in payroll jobs between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in payroll jobs between 14 March and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 14 March and 13 June
NSW-0.3%-6.1%-0.3%-7.6%
Vic.-0.2%-7.6%0.1%-5.8%
Qld0.3%-6.3%1.0%-4.9%
SA0.4%-5.7%1.1%-4.4%
WA0.7%-4.4%0.6%-7.3%
Tas.0.0%-7.3%-0.2%-6.5%
NT-0.3%-4.7%0.3%-3.6%
ACT-0.8%-6.2%-1.4%-4.8%
Australia0.0%-6.4%0.2%-6.3%

a. Wages data are more sensitive to period-to-period changes in reporting than jobs data and are therefore subject to greater revisions over time. They are also subject to a greater degree of seasonality. Please refer to the Methodology for further information.

Jobs and wages by sex

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case):

  • Payroll jobs: Those worked by females decreased by 6.5% and those worked by males decreased by 5.8%
  • Total wages: Payments to males decreased by 8.2% and payments to females decreased by 3.4%
     

Between the week ending 6 June 2020 and the week ending 13 June 2020:

  • Payroll jobs: Those worked by males increased by 0.1% and those worked by females decrease by 0.1%
  • Total wages payments to males showed the largest change
     

Table 2 - Changes by sex (a)

 Change in payroll jobs between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in payroll jobs between 14 March and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 14 March and 13 June
Males0.1%-5.8%0.3%-8.2%
Females-0.1%-6.5%0.1%-3.4%
All persons0.0%-6.4%0.2%-6.3%

a. Wages data are more sensitive to period-to-period changes in reporting than jobs data and are therefore subject to greater revisions over time. They are also subject to a greater degree of seasonality. Please refer to the Methodology for further information.
 

Jobs and wages by age group

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case), the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Those worked by people aged under 20 decreased by 15.2% and those worked by people aged 70 and over decreased by 10.4%
  • Total wages: Payments to people aged under 20 increased by 8.1% and payments to people aged 40-49 decreased by 7.4%
     

Between the week ending 6 June 2020 and the week ending 13 June 2020, the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Those worked by people aged under 20 decreased by 2.2% and those worked by people aged 70 and over decreased by 1.2%
  • The largest change in total wages were for people aged under 20 and people aged 70 and over
     

Table 3 - Changes by age group (a)

 Change in payroll jobs between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in payroll jobs between 14 March and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 14 March and 13 June
Aged under 20-2.2%-15.2%-7.1%8.1%
20-29 years olds-0.2%-10.1%-0.2%-5.6%
30-39 years olds0.2%-4.8%0.5%-6.6%
40-49 years olds0.4%-3.4%0.7%-7.4%
50-59 years olds0.4%-3.1%0.6%-6.3%
60-69 years olds0.2%-4.9%0.2%-5.4%
70 years and over-1.2%-10.4%-1.5%-3.3%
All persons0.0%-6.4%0.2%-6.3%

a. Wages data are more sensitive to period-to-period changes in reporting than jobs data and are therefore subject to greater revisions over time. They are also subject to a greater degree of seasonality. Please refer to the Methodology for further information.

Jobs and wages by Industry

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Accommodation and Food Services decreased by 28.6% and Arts and Recreation Services decreased by 23.9%
  • Total wages : Accommodation and Food Services decreased by 21.4% and Mining decreased by 15.4%
     

Between the week ending 6 June 2020 and the week ending 13 June 2020, the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs: Accommodation and Food Services decreased by 2.8% and Retail Trade decreased by 2.2%
  • The largest change in total wages were in Retail Trade and Information Media and Telecommunications
     

Table 4 - Changes by Industry (a)

 Change in payroll jobs between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in payroll jobs between 14 March and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 6 June and 13 JuneChange in total wages between 14 March and 13 June
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing-0.1%-9.0%-0.4%-6.1%
Mining1.7%-2.1%2.0%-15.4%
Manufacturing0.0%-5.0%0.4%-9.9%
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services1.8%1.2%1.9%-0.1%
Construction0.3%-5.3%-0.6%-8.2%
Wholesale Trade0.8%-4.2%0.2%-11.4%
Retail Trade-2.2%-5.0%-4.5%-2.3%
Accommodation and Food Services-2.8%-28.6%-1.4%-21.4%
Transport, Postal and Warehousing1.5%-3.8%-1.4%-9.3%
Information Media and Telecommunications2.0%-7.1%3.0%-5.6%
Financial and Insurance Services1.3%0.8%2.0%-9.0%
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services-0.3%-9.4%-2.0%-12.1%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services1.3%-4.5%2.3%-7.0%
Administrative and Support Services0.3%-7.2%-2.3%-7.4%
Public Administration and Safety0.7%-2.1%1.5%-3.3%
Education and Training0.8%-3.0%0.9%2.3%
Health Care and Social Assistance-0.9%-3.3%0.9%0.8%
Arts and Recreation Services1.4%-23.9%0.0%-14.8%
Other Services-0.3%-8.2%-0.8%-1.0%
All Industries0.0%-6.4%0.2%-6.3%

a. Wages data are more sensitive to period-to-period changes in reporting than jobs data and are therefore subject to greater revisions over time. They are also subject to a greater degree of seasonality. Please refer to the Methodology for further information.
 

Jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4)

Jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) estimates will be updated through to the week ending 11 July as part of the release on Tuesday 28 July.

Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) time series estimates from the previous release (as released on 16 June 2020) for the week ending 14 March 2020 through to the week ending 30 May 2020 are available below. The time series estimates are presented as index values and can be accessed via Table 4 in the Data downloads section.

A Jobs by SA4 - Interactive Map is also available. The map shows change in payroll jobs between the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) and the week ending 30 May 2020.

Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions are specifically designed to reflect labour markets within each state and territory within population limits. In regional areas, SA4s tend to have lower populations (100,000 to 300,000), while in metropolitan areas, SA4s tend to have larger populations (300,000 to 500,000).

For more information, see the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 – Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001).

Table 5 - Change in payroll jobs by region (a)

Jobs by Industry sub-division

Jobs by Industry Sub-division estimates will be updated through to the week ending 27 June as part of the release on Tuesday 14 July.

Industry sub-division time series estimates from the previous release (as released on 16 June 2020) for the the week ending 14 March 2020 and the week ending 30 May 2020 are available below. The time series estimates are presented as index values and can be accessed via Table 4 in the Data downloads section.

The sub-division level is the second broadest grouping of industries within the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Industry sub-divisions are built up from the industry groups which, in turn, are built up from Industry classes.

For more, information see the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (cat. no. 1292.0).

Table 6 - Changes by Industry and sub-division (a)

Data downloads

I-note

Table 1: National spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [82.8 KB]

Table 2: State and territory spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [352.17 KB]

Table 3: Industry spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [634.9 KB]

Table 4: Payroll jobs and wages indices

Data files
Download xlsx [1.81 MB]

Methodology

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia methodology, Week ending 13 June 2020

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