Payroll jobs decline in late September
Payroll jobs fell 0.9 per cent across the fortnight to 3 October, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “All states and territories reported a fall in payroll jobs in late September, ranging from a 1.2 per cent decrease in the Northern Territory to a 0.7 per cent decrease in South Australia.”
“Nationally, payroll jobs remain 4.1 per cent lower than mid-March; 7.7 per cent lower in Victoria and 2.8 per cent lower in the rest of Australia.”
“The fall in payroll jobs in late September was seen across all groups of people aged over 20, with an increase in jobs during this period limited to those under 20,” Mr Jarvis said.
People aged 20 to 49 accounted for almost two thirds (65 per cent) of payroll jobs prior to COVID-19. In the fortnight to 3 October, payroll jobs worked by this age group decreased by around 1 per cent - nationally and within most states and territories.
While payroll jobs worked by females were hardest hit by mid-April, their recovery was stronger by 3 October than payroll jobs worked by males (with 58 per cent of jobs regained, compared to 24 per cent). However, payroll jobs worked by females remained 4.2 per cent lower than mid-March, and 5.0 per cent lower for males.
Further information is available in Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia.
The ABS acknowledges the continued support from the Australian Taxation Office in enabling the ABS to produce the statistics providing weekly insights into the Australian labour market.
Media notes
- This release includes information on payroll jobs paid through Single Touch Payroll enabled software to the Australian Taxation Office.
- In each release, as more complete data are received, payroll jobs and wages estimates (including percentage change movement and indexes) are revised.
- While the ABS accounts for employees being paid with different frequencies, there are points in the year when additional reporting activity is more likely to occur, which may flow through to published estimates.
- Estimates of payroll jobs by sub-state regions (Statistical Area 4 and 3) through to the week ending 3 October will be added to this release on Wednesday 21 October 2020.
- An interactive map examining change in payroll jobs through 2020 in SA4 and SA3 regions will be added to this release on Thursday 22 October 2020.
- The additional ABS products being published to understand the economic impact of the coronavirus can be found on the ABS COVID-19 page.
- When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
- For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team at media@abs.gov.au.
- Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.