Payroll jobs flat into September

Media Release

Released

12/10/2023

Source

Weekly Payroll Jobs, Week ending 16 September 2023

Payroll jobs remained flat (0.0 per cent) over the month to 16 September 2023, following a 0.2 per cent rise last month, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Kate Lamb, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “In the month to mid-September 2023, payroll jobs held steady.

“A fall in payroll jobs was seen in 12 of 19 industries over the month.

“These falls were offset by an increase in the Public administration and safety industry, which is related to the upcoming referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

“We also saw a seasonal high in the Education and training industry ahead of the upcoming holidays around the end of September.

“Without the influence of the increases from these two industries over this period, payroll jobs in the remaining industries fell 0.3 per cent over the month to mid-September. This was mostly due to Retail trade and Manufacturing, which fell 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent.

“Over the 12 months to mid-September 2023, payroll jobs rose 2.4 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent annual growth to mid-August 2023. This suggests that labour market growth may be starting to slow.”

Payroll jobs, comparison across years
	2020-21 (pts)	2021-22 (pts)	2022-23 (pts)	2023-24 (pts)
	97.5	103.6	109.3	114.8
	98.6	104.4	110.6	115.1
	98.7	104.1	110.6	114.6
	98.9	102.9	110.6	114.5
	99.1	103.1	111.1	114.6
	99.2	102.9	111.2	114.3
	99.1	102.8	111.5	114.5
	99.2	102.1	111.6	114.7
	99.3	101.6	111.9	114.8
	99.6	101.7	111.9	114.6
	100.0	102.3	112.0	114.7
mid-Sep	100.2	102.7	112.1	114.7
	100.0	102.5	111.7
	99.3	102.2	111.3
	99.5	102.6	111.5
	100.4	104.3	112.1
	100.7	105.5	112.5
	100.9	106.4	112.5
	101.3	106.9	112.7
	102.1	107.4	113.1
	102.4	107.9	113.5
	102.8	108.2	113.7
	103.3	108.7	114.0
mid-Dec	103.4	108.5	113.8
	102.6	107.7	113.1
	98.8	104.0	109.8
	96.1	99.8	105.1
	97.4	100.4	105.5
	99.5	102.6	107.9
	100.5	104.0	109.3
	101.1	104.8	110.0
	101.6	105.3	110.8
	102.3	105.9	111.4
	102.6	105.7	111.9
	103.1	105.6	112.4
	103.3	105.9	112.8
	103.7	106.9	113.0
	103.8	107.3	113.1
mid-Mar	103.7	107.3	113.3
	102.8	107.1	113.0
	102.5	107.3	112.3
	102.7	106.7	112.0
	103.0	106.3	112.4
	103.3	106.9	112.7
	103.7	107.4	113.1
	104.0	107.7	113.5
	104.2	107.9	113.5
	103.9	108.1	113.5
	103.5	108.1	113.4
mid-Jun	103.7	108.5	113.4
	103.8	108.9	113.7
	103.5	109.0	114.5

Payroll jobs, comparison across years

["","2020-21","2021-22","2022-23","2023-24"]

[["","","","","","","","","","","","mid-Sep","","","","","","","","","","","","mid-Dec","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","mid-Mar","","","","","","","","","","","mid-Jun","",""],[[97.5],[98.579999999999998],[98.689999999999998],[98.909999999999997],[99.140000000000001],[99.159999999999997],[99.069999999999993],[99.189999999999998],[99.290000000000006],[99.590000000000003],[100.03],[100.19],[100.02],[99.319999999999993],[99.489999999999995],[100.37],[100.69],[100.89],[101.34],[102.06],[102.43000000000001],[102.75],[103.27],[103.38],[102.59],[98.829999999999998],[96.109999999999999],[97.359999999999999],[99.510000000000005],[100.54000000000001],[101.06999999999999],[101.59999999999999],[102.3],[102.59],[103.05],[103.28],[103.66],[103.81],[103.67],[102.81],[102.45],[102.67],[102.98],[103.33],[103.73999999999999],[104],[104.16],[103.89],[103.48],[103.68000000000001],[103.84],[103.54000000000001]],[[103.59999999999999],[104.34999999999999],[104.13],[102.90000000000001],[103.06999999999999],[102.89],[102.77],[102.11],[101.58],[101.67],[102.28],[102.68000000000001],[102.51000000000001],[102.20999999999999],[102.64],[104.31],[105.47],[106.34999999999999],[106.93000000000001],[107.42],[107.91],[108.19],[108.73],[108.53],[107.7],[104],[99.75],[100.34999999999999],[102.58],[104.01000000000001],[104.81],[105.34],[105.92],[105.72],[105.56],[105.91],[106.90000000000001],[107.3],[107.34],[107.09999999999999],[107.3],[106.66],[106.3],[106.84999999999999],[107.37],[107.66],[107.92],[108.12],[108.06],[108.47],[108.92],[109]],[[109.26000000000001],[110.59],[110.56],[110.64],[111.06999999999999],[111.16],[111.47],[111.64],[111.88],[111.84999999999999],[112.02],[112.05],[111.66],[111.25],[111.45],[112.08],[112.45],[112.51000000000001],[112.69],[113.14],[113.45999999999999],[113.72],[114],[113.78],[113.12],[109.84],[105.13],[105.45],[107.84999999999999],[109.25],[109.95999999999999],[110.83],[111.40000000000001],[111.94],[112.43000000000001],[112.76000000000001],[112.95],[113.11],[113.29000000000001],[113.02],[112.3],[112.02],[112.40000000000001],[112.73],[113.06999999999999],[113.45999999999999],[113.48],[113.47],[113.43000000000001],[113.44],[113.72],[114.52]],[[114.78],[115.09999999999999],[114.58],[114.5],[114.59999999999999],[114.3],[114.48999999999999],[114.69],[114.81999999999999],[114.59],[114.68000000000001],[114.73],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null],[null]]]

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Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020

Mid-Sep represents the week ending 19 September 2020, 18 September 2021, 17 September 2022 and 16 September 2023.

Mid-Dec represents the week ending 12 December 2020, 11 December 2021 and 10 December 2022.

Mid-Mar represents the week ending 13 March 2021, 12 March 2022 and 11 March 2023.

Mid-Jun represents the week ending 12 June 2021, 11 June 2022 and 10 June 2023.

Payroll jobs rise in 5 of 8 states and territories

Payroll jobs rose in five of eight jurisdictions over the month to mid-September 2023, with the largest rises in the Australian Capital Territory (up 0.4 per cent) and Western Australia (up 0.3 per cent).

“Most states and territories were influenced by the referendum-related payroll jobs increases from the Public administration and safety industry seen at the national level.

“Victoria and Queensland both fell by 0.1 per cent over the month due to payroll job falls in the Retail trade and Manufacturing industries,” Ms Lamb said.

Payroll jobs increased in every state and territory in the 12 months to mid-September 2023, with the Northern Territory recording the largest growth (up 4.5 per cent) and New South Wales the lowest (up 2.0 per cent).

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory
	Year to 16 September 2023 (%)
Northern Territory	4.5
Western Australia	3.4
South Australia	3.2
Australian Capital Territory	3.0
AUSTRALIA	2.4
Victoria	2.3
Queensland	2.2
Tasmania	2.1
New South Wales	2.0

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory

["","Year to 16 September 2023"]

[["Northern Territory","Western Australia","South Australia","Australian Capital Territory","AUSTRALIA","Victoria","Queensland","Tasmania","New South Wales"],[[4.5],[3.3999999999999999],[3.2000000000000002],[3],[2.3999999999999999],[2.2999999999999998],[2.2000000000000002],[2.1000000000000001],[2]]]

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Media notes

Payroll jobs are not seasonally adjusted, which generally requires at least three years of reasonably stable data. The longstanding seasonally adjusted Labour Force statistics series can aid in the interpretation of labour statistics across periods of greater seasonality, through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Payroll jobs are predominantly employee jobs paid through payrolls. Some industries, such as Agriculture, forestry and fishing and Construction have high proportions of owner managers who are not included in payroll reporting. See the Scope and coverage section in the Methodology of this release for more information.
In each release, payroll job estimates are revised as more complete data are received. The magnitude of revisions can vary at some points of the year, such as the start and end of the financial and calendar year in line with changes in the reporting activity of businesses.
The ABS acknowledges the continued support of the ATO in enabling the ABS to produce weekly insights into the Australian labour market from Single Touch Payroll data.
When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) must be attributed as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team at media@abs.gov.au (8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday AEST).
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.

APA

Citation

Payroll jobs flat into September

APA

Citation

Payroll jobs rise in 5 of 8 states and territories

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