Payroll jobs now level with a year ago

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Released
16/02/2021
Source
Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia, Week ending 30 January 2021

Payroll jobs rose 1.3 per cent across the fortnight to 30 January 2021, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. 

Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Payroll jobs continued to follow a seasonal pattern, increasing through January, and were around the same level as last year.”

Across the fortnight to 30 January 2021, almost every industry saw a rise in payroll jobs. The largest increases were seen in Administrative and support services (up 2.7 per cent), Accommodation and food services and Education and training (both up 2.6 per cent).

All state and territories saw an increase in payroll jobs in the fortnight to 30 January 2021, with increases ranging from 2.2 per cent in Tasmania to 0.6 per cent in Western Australia.

“Annual growth in payroll jobs varied across the states and territories,” Mr Jarvis said. “It was strongest in the Northern Territory (up 3.5 per cent), Western Australia (up 2.5 per cent) and South Australia (up 2.4 per cent), and weakest in Tasmania and Victoria (both down 1.7 per cent).”

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

  • Payroll jobs figures are not seasonally adjusted, which generally require at least three years of data. The seasonal changes accounted for in the longstanding Labour Force statistics series should be considered when interpreting recovery in employment statistics through the COVID period.
  • 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 30 January 2021, will be added to this release on Wednesday 17 February 2021. 
  • An interactive map examining change in payroll jobs in SA4 and SA3 regions will be updated in this release on Friday 19 February 2021.
  • 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 via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.