Small rise in payroll jobs to mid-May
Payroll jobs rose 0.1 per cent in the month to 11 May 2024, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: "The small monthly rise in payroll jobs to mid-May 2024 was less than the usual rebound we see after the Easter and autumn school holidays period.
“This partly reflected some school holidays occurring later in April and outside of the Easter holiday period, compared to recent years.
“The latest data also showed that payroll jobs growth continues to be slower through 2023-24, compared with 2022-23,” Mr Jarvis said.
Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.
Mid-Feb represents the week ending 15 February 2020, 13 February 2021, 12 February 2022, 11 February 2023 and 10 February 2024
Mid-May represents the week ending 16 May 2020, 15 May 2021, 14 May 2022, 13 May 2023 and 11 May 2024.
Mid-Aug represents the week ending 15 August 2020, 14 August 2021, 13 August 2022 and 12 August 2023.
Mid-Nov represents the week ending 14 November 2020, 13 November 2021, 12 November 2022 and 11 November 2023.
Annual growth to 11 May 2024 was strongest in Electricity, gas, water and waste services (8.9 per cent), Health care and social assistance (8.0 per cent), Mining (5.5 per cent), Public administration and safety (5.3 per cent) and Education and training (4.9 per cent).
a. Industries ranked by percentage change in the last year
Seasonal changes in Education and training jobs around school holidays
The timing of school holidays can vary between states and territories, and from year to year. These timings affect when we see seasonal changes in weekly payroll jobs, particularly in Education and training.
In 2024, school holidays in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory were in the first half of April, and in the second half of April in other parts of the country.
Overall payroll jobs in Education and training accounted for around 85 per cent of the total rise over the month.
Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.
Mid-Feb represents the week ending 15 February 2020, 13 February 2021, 12 February 2022, 11 February 2023 and 10 February 2024
Mid-May represents the week ending 16 May 2020, 15 May 2021, 14 May 2022, 13 May 2023 and 11 May 2024.
Mid-Aug represents the week ending 15 August 2020, 14 August 2021, 13 August 2022 and 12 August 2023.
Mid-Nov represents the week ending 14 November 2020, 13 November 2021, 12 November 2022 and 11 November 2023.
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, including 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 you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
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