Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

This is not the latest release View the latest release

Payroll jobs and wages estimates, sourced from Single Touch Payroll (STP) data

Reference period
Week ending 12 February 2022
Released
10/03/2022

Key statistics

Between the weeks ending 29 January 2022 and 12 February 2022:

  • Payroll jobs, up 0.8%
  • Total wages, up 2.7%

 

Update of jobholder characteristics

This release includes an update to jobholder characteristics, resulting in revisions to all sex, age and geography indexes. These revisions are greater in 2021 and impact component indexes differently. For more information, see the Update of jobholder characteristics section in Methods review

The ABS recommends that analyses of previously published estimates be refreshed with updated data from this release. 

Revisions

This release sees higher than usual revisions in November 2021, as the 16 week imputation retention threshold passes through this period. These revisions mostly reflect the removal of previously imputed records, with the receipt of more complete data. Users should exercise caution when referring to estimates around this period.  

National

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022:

  • Payroll jobs increased by 0.8%, compared to an increase of 2.0% in the previous fortnight
  • Total wages paid increased by 2.7%, compared to an increase of 1.0% in the previous fortnight
Percentage change in payroll jobs and total wages
In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
Payroll jobs0.8%2.8%1.8%
Total wages2.7%3.7%7.0%

Estimates of changes throughout this release are calculated using un-rounded index values. They may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded index values.

  1. Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.
  2. Payroll jobs and wages data during June and July see a greater variation in business payroll reporting around the end of financial year. For more information, see Variation in revisions in Data variability and revisions

State and territory

Payroll jobs

All geographical areas in this release represent the residential address of the jobholder. 

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • Northern Territory, up 2.0%
  • South Australia, up 1.4%

State and territory percentage change in payroll jobs, in the fortnight to 12 February 2022

Loading map...

This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the fortnight up to 12 February 2022, by the state and territory of the jobholder's residential address. 

- New South Wales (0.9%)
- Victoria (1.0%)
- Queensland (0.1%)
- South Australia (1.4%)
- Western Australia (0.8%)
- Tasmania (0.9%)
- Northern Territory (2.0%)
- Australian Capital Territory (1.3%)

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory
In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
New South Wales0.9%3.3%0.2%
Victoria1.0%3.4%1.9%
Queensland0.1%1.9%2.4%
South Australia1.4%2.9%1.7%
Western Australia0.8%1.8%4.5%
Tasmania0.9%2.1%3.3%
Northern Territory2.0%3.6%2.8%
Australian Capital Territory1.3%3.0%2.9%
Australia0.8%2.8%1.8%

Total wages

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • New South Wales, up 3.6%
  • Western Australia, up 3.1%
Percentage change in total wages, by state and territory
In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
New South Wales3.6%4.7%5.8%
Victoria2.3%4.3%7.2%
Queensland1.8%2.5%7.3%
South Australia2.5%3.1%7.0%
Western Australia3.1%3.6%9.9%
Tasmania1.4%1.8%7.0%
Northern Territory1.8%-12.9%6.0%
Australian Capital Territory1.9%3.3%7.2%
Australia2.7%3.7%7.0%
  1. Northern Territory wages estimates in mid-January 2022 included one-off payments across a number of industries.

Sub-state - payroll jobs

Time series estimates of payroll jobs by sub-state regions (Statistical Area 4 (SA4), Statistical Area 3 (SA3) and Greater Capital City Area (GCCSA) regions) are presented as index values in Table 5 of the Data downloads. 

For more information on the geography used in this release, see the Glossary.

GCCSA regions percentage change in payroll jobs, in the fortnight to 12 February 2022

Loading map...

This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the fortnight up to 15 January 2022, by the GCCSA region of the jobholder's residential address. 
- Greater Sydney (0.4%)
- Rest of New South Wales (1.5%)
- Greater Melbourne (0.9%)
- Rest of Victoria (1.0%)
- Greater Brisbane (0.1%)
- Rest of Queensland (0.1%)
- Greater Adelaide (1.4%)
- Rest of South Australia (0.9%)
- Greater Perth (0.7%)
- Rest of Western Australia (1.0%)
- Greater Hobart (1.0%)
- Rest of Tasmania (0.8%)
- Greater Darwin (1.8%)
- Rest of Northern Territory (2.1%)
- Australian Capital Territory (1.3%)

Footnotes

The ACT only has one GCCSA region for the entire Territory.

Sex and age group

Persons aged 15-19 years old by sex indexes can be affected by a higher proportion of records with unknown sex than other age group indexes. For more information, see the Update of jobholder characteristics in the Methods review

Payroll jobs

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • worked by females, up 1.2%
  • worked by persons aged 70 and over, up 2.8%
Percentage change in payroll jobs, by sex and age group (a)
  In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
SexMales0.3%2.0%-0.4%
Females1.2%3.2%1.5%
Age group (years)15-190.5%6.2%7.6%
20-291.1%4.1%1.5%
30-390.6%2.0%0.9%
40-490.7%2.0%0.7%
50-590.7%2.0%1.4%
60-691.5%2.8%3.9%
70 and over2.8%4.2%5.0%
All persons 0.8%2.8%1.8%

a. Persons with 'unknown' sex and age are only included in the calculation of All persons indexes. For more information, see Inclusion of unknown characteristics in How data are processed.

  1. Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.

Total wages

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • worked by males, up 3.1%
  • worked by persons aged 40-49, up 3.3%
Percentage change in total wages, by sex and age group (a)
  In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
SexMales3.1%4.1%5.4%
Females2.1%2.9%8.2%
Age group (years)15-19-3.0%3.7%20.3%
20-292.1%5.4%8.4%
30-392.8%3.4%6.2%
40-493.3%3.7%5.6%
50-592.9%3.3%6.8%
60-692.5%2.7%9.4%
70 and over2.0%1.8%12.4%
All persons 2.7%3.7%7.0%

a. Persons with 'unknown' sex and age are only included in the calculation of All persons indexes. For more information, see Inclusion of unknown characteristics in How data are processed.

5 year age groups - Payroll jobs

Time series estimates of payroll jobs by 5 year age groups by sex are presented as index values in Table 8 of the Data downloads. 

Industry

Payroll jobs

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • Education and training, up 7.4%
  • Administrative and support services, up 1.5%
Percentage change in payroll jobs, by industry (a)
In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
Agriculture, forestry and fishing-0.4%-0.3%-2.3%
Mining1.3%1.5%6.7%
Manufacturing-0.2%2.2%-2.2%
Electricity, gas, water and waste services0.1%0.2%1.4%
Construction0.5%4.1%-2.5%
Wholesale trade-0.3%0.3%-0.5%
Retail trade0.2%0.8%1.6%
Accommodation and food services-0.2%2.3%-10.8%
Transport, postal and warehousing0.3%2.5%-3.5%
Information media and telecommunications0.3%1.2%1.3%
Financial and insurance services-0.6%-0.1%3.0%
Rental, hiring and real estate services-1.4%-0.3%-1.8%
Professional, scientific and technical services-0.3%0.9%2.7%
Administrative and support services1.5%4.7%1.4%
Public administration and safety1.3%2.2%2.6%
Education and training7.4%11.9%1.4%
Health care and social assistance0.6%2.7%3.0%
Arts and recreation services1.3%5.0%-0.9%
Other services-0.7%1.5%-5.9%
All industries0.8%2.8%1.8%
  1. Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, see Seasonality in Data variability and revisions.

  1. Industries ranked by percentage change in the latest fortnight. 

Total wages

In the fortnight to 12 February 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • Mining, up 11.8%
  • Education and training, up 6.9%
Percentage change in total wages, by industry(a)
In the fortnight since 29 January 2022In the month since 15 January 2022In the year since 13 February 2021
Agriculture, forestry and fishing1.2%-0.2%3.6%
Mining11.8%12.4%13.8%
Manufacturing4.6%6.1%1.9%
Electricity, gas, water and waste services2.6%4.0%5.7%
Construction5.1%7.9%1.9%
Wholesale trade5.0%5.1%3.9%
Retail trade-0.4%-3.2%3.9%
Accommodation and food services-2.8%1.0%-2.4%
Transport, postal and warehousing0.7%2.1%1.5%
Information media and telecommunications6.1%7.3%6.3%
Financial and insurance services1.2%1.2%2.9%
Rental, hiring and real estate services-0.5%-1.7%6.4%
Professional, scientific and technical services4.9%5.5%9.5%
Administrative and support services4.1%7.1%7.4%
Public administration and safety2.7%0.8%8.5%
Education and training6.9%8.2%5.5%
Health care and social assistance-2.4%0.2%8.0%
Arts and recreation services-1.0%2.4%4.0%
Other services-0.3%1.9%1.4%
All industries2.7%3.7%7.0%
  1. Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, see Seasonality in Data variability and revisions.

Industry subdivision - Payroll jobs

Time series estimates of payroll jobs by industry subdivision are presented as index values in Table 6 of the Data downloads. For more information on the industry classifications used in this release, see the Glossary

Private sector industry - Payroll jobs

Time series estimates of payroll jobs by private sector for selected industry divisions are presented as index values in Table 9 of the Data downloads. More information on the sector classification can be found in Updating characteristics variables in How data are processed and the Glossary

Employment size

The ABS has previously advised caution in using the most recent periods in payroll jobs by employment size indexes, which are subject to higher than usual revisions over a longer period - particularly for small employers. These indexes are more heavily influenced by changes in reporting behaviour and reporting obligations than other indexes, affecting the interpretation of underlying change in labour market conditions. To provide more stability at the end point of these series, a month lag in the reference week is in place. 

In this release the latest week of data for these indexes is for the week ending 15 January 2022, which is also reflected in the percentage change estimates presented. 

Percentage change in payroll jobs by employment size(a)(b)
In the fortnight since 1 January 2022In the month since 18 December 2021In the year since 16 January 2021
Under 20 employees3.5%-7.4%5.5%
20-199 employees3.6%-5.2%-2.1%
200 employees and over0.3%-4.4%1.4%
All businesses1.8%-5.4%1.7%
  1. Records with 'unknown' employment size are only included in the calculation of All businesses indexes. For more information, see Revisions in sub-populations in Data variability and revisions
  2. With respect to the week ending 15 January 2022.  

Distribution of characteristics

To aid in the interpretability of payroll job estimates, the following data download contains selected distributions of jobholder and employer characteristics by state and territory. 

Records with 'unknown' characteristics have been excluded from the calculation of proportions. For more information on the source, impact and proportion of unknowns, see the Updating characteristic variables and Inclusion of unknown characteristics sections of How data are processed

Table 20: Payroll jobs - characteristics distributions

Contains selected distributions of jobholder and employer characteristics, available in this release since 9 September 2021. 

Data downloads

Table 4: Payroll jobs and wages indexes

Table 5: Sub-state - Payroll jobs indexes

Table 6: Industry subdivision - Payroll jobs indexes

Table 7: Employer characteristics - Payroll jobs index

Table 8: Jobholder characteristics - Payroll jobs index

Contains estimates of payroll jobs by 5 year age groups. 

Table 9: Sector - Payroll jobs index

Contains estimates of payroll jobs by private sector for selected industry divisions, available in this release since 7 October 2021. 

 

All data cubes

Changes in this release

The following section was updated in this release:

  • Upcoming changes: text updated

The following sections of the Methodology have been updated in this release:

  • Methods review: new subsection on Update of jobholder characteristics

  • Methods review: Update of employer characteristics text integrated with How data are processed 

  • Data variability and revisions: Impact of unknown sex subsection removed  

Upcoming changes

Update to thematic grouping and navigation on the ABS website

Expansion of outputs

Previous articles

Previously published articles and information of interest are linked below:

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.55.001.

Back to top of the page