Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

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Experimental weekly estimates on the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on payroll jobs and wages, sourced from Single Touch Payroll data

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Reference period
Week ending 22 August 2020
Released
8/09/2020
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Key statistics

Between the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) and the week ending 22 August 2020:
 

  • Payroll jobs decreased by 4.2%
  • Total wages decreased by 5.2%
  1. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.

High level analysis suggests that there were approximately 447 000 fewer payroll jobs in STP-enabled businesses on 22 August 2020 than on 14 March 2020.

Key COVID-19 dates:

  • 22 March: Prime Minister announces Stage 2 lock down changes, which are progressively implemented
  • 30 March: Prime Minister announces JobKeeper program
  • 8 July: Stay at Home restrictions commence for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire
  • 12 July: Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package ceased
  • 20 July: Altered eligibility for JobKeeper payments for child care providers in place
  • 5 August: Stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne and stage 3 restrictions in regional Victoria commence

State and territory

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs : Victoria decreased by 7.9% and Tasmania decreased by 4.1%
  • Total wages : Victoria decreased by 6.2% and New South Wales decreased by 5.6%
     

Table 1 - Percentage change by states and territories

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 AugustChange between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 August
New South Wales0.7%-3.2%0.4%-5.6%
Victoria-0.7%-7.9%-0.6%-6.2%
Queensland0.3%-3.2%0.2%-4.2%
South Australia1.1%-2.8%0.8%-2.9%
Western Australia0.7%-1.0%1.2%-5.4%
Tasmania1.3%-4.1%1.0%-4.4%
Northern Territory0.3%-1.1%1.3%-0.2%
Australian Capital Territory0.1%-4.0%-1.0%-3.5%
Australia0.3%-4.2%0.2%-5.2%

a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.
 

  1. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note.

Sex and age group

Sex

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs : Those worked by males decreased by 4.6% and those worked by females decreased by 4.1%
  • Total wages : Payments to males decreased by 7.7% and payments to females decreased by 1.8%
     

Table 2 - Percentage change by sex

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 AugustChange between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 August
Males0.3%-4.6%0.0%-7.7%
Females0.2%-4.1%0.5%-1.8%
All persons0.3%-4.2%0.2%-5.2%

a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.
 

  1. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.

Age group

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case), the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs : Those worked by people aged 70 and over decreased by 10.9% and those worked by people aged 20-29 decreased by 6.6%
  • Total wages : Payments to people aged under 20 increased by 22.4% and payments to people aged 70 and over decreased by 8.0%
     

Table 3 - Percentage change by age group (a)

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 AugustChange between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 August
Aged under 201.7%-1.9%3.9%22.4%
20-29 year olds0.0%-6.6%0.1%-1.2%
30-39 year olds0.3%-3.1%0.3%-4.8%
40-49 year olds0.6%-2.1%0.5%-6.7%
50-59 year olds0.6%-2.1%0.3%-6.6%
60-69 year olds0.4%-5.3%-0.3%-7.5%
Aged 70 years and over0.0%-10.9%-0.8%-8.0%
All persons0.3%-4.2%0.2%-5.2%

a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.

Industry

Since the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) the largest changes were:

  • Payroll jobs : Accommodation and food services decreased by 21.1% and Arts and recreation services decreased by 14.3%
  • Total wages : Mining decreased by 17.7% and Accommodation and food services decreased by 13.9%
     

Table 4 - Percentage change by Industry

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 AugustChange between 8 August and 22 August (a)Change between 14 March and 22 August
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing-1.7%-10.3%-1.2%-8.2%
Mining (b)0.6%-0.1%2.5%-17.7%
Manufacturing1.0%-2.9%0.9%-8.9%
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services1.4%3.7%1.1%1.8%
Construction-1.0%-5.8%-3.4%-9.4%
Wholesale Trade1.2%-3.3%1.1%-9.7%
Retail Trade1.0%-2.5%-2.9%-2.6%
Accommodation and Food Services-0.9%-21.1%1.6%-13.9%
Transport, Postal and Warehousing0.1%-4.9%1.2%-8.9%
Information Media and Telecommunications0.0%-7.8%2.0%0.2%
Financial and Insurance Services1.3%1.9%1.0%-7.3%
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services-0.1%-8.6%-0.7%-10.4%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services0.2%-3.6%-0.2%-6.8%
Administrative and Support Services-0.1%-6.4%0.5%-5.2%
Public Administration and Safety0.5%2.7%0.6%-1.1%
Education and Training2.3%-3.0%2.1%0.2%
Health Care and Social Assistance-0.6%0.7%0.2%3.3%
Arts and Recreation Services0.8%-14.3%3.2%-6.9%
Other Services-1.2%-6.7%0.0%-0.4%
All Industries0.3%-4.2%0.2%-5.2%

a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads section.
b. The Mining industry wages estimates in March may include annual bonuses. Please refer to the seasonality section of the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note for further information.
 

Employment size

The following experimental estimates present payroll jobs by employment size between the week ending 14 March 2020 (i.e. the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) and the week ending 22 August 2020.

  1. Excludes a small number of businesses reporting in STP where employment size information was unable to be sourced from the ABS Business Register.
  2. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note.
     

Table 5 - Percentage change in payroll jobs by state and territory, by employment size as at 14 March 2020 (a)

  Change between 8 August and 22 August (b)Change between 14 March and 22 August
Under 20 employees-1.9%-8.0%
 New South Wales-1.8%-8.5%
 Victoria-3.4%-12.6%
 Queensland-1.2%-4.7%
 South Australia-1.1%-4.1%
 Western Australia-1.3%-4.0%
 Tasmania0.1%-6.9%
 Northern Territory-1.6%-3.3%
 Australian Capital Territory-2.7%-8.0%
20-199 employees0.0%-7.2%
 New South Wales0.6%-5.7%
 Victoria-1.0%-12.6%
 Queensland0.2%-4.9%
 South Australia0.4%-5.0%
 Western Australia0.1%-3.3%
 Tasmania0.6%-7.4%
 Northern Territory0.8%-3.5%
 Australian Capital Territory-0.3%-7.2%
200 employees and over1.5%-0.8%
 New South Wales2.0%0.7%
 Victoria0.7%-3.1%
 Queensland1.1%-1.7%
 South Australia2.8%-0.7%
 Western Australia1.8%1.4%
 Tasmania2.5%-0.4%
 Northern Territory1.0%1.6%
 Australian Capital Territory1.2%-1.6%

a. Excludes a small number of businesses reporting in STP where employment size information was unable to be sourced from the ABS Business Register.
b. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note.
 

Employment size source

Employment size variables were determined from ABS Business Register data. The ABS Business Register is populated using administrative data from the Australian Business Register (ABR) and business data from the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Data on the structures of large and complex businesses are also collected by ABS. The is updated regularly and a frame of business, containing business characteristic information, is produced quarterly for use in the production of statistics. The March 2020 quarterly frame was used to determine employment size for businesses reporting their payroll via STP and subsequently allocate their reported payroll jobs against. Once a payroll job is allocated to an employment size category, it is held constant against that category over time.

By using the March 2020 quarter frame and holding employment size categorisation constant, the ABS is able to present information about the change in payroll jobs based on the employment size of businesses before Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case on 14 March 2020.

Statistical Area 4 (SA4) - Payroll jobs

Payroll jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) estimates will be next updated through to the week ending 5 September as part of the release on Wednesday 23 September 2020.

The time series estimates up to the week ending 8 August 2020 (as released on 26 August) are available via Table 5 in the Data downloads section, presented as index values.

Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions are specifically designed to reflect labour markets within each state and territory within population limits. In regional areas, SA4s tend to have lower populations (100,000 to 300,000), while in metropolitan areas, SA4s tend to have larger populations (300,000 to 500,000).

For more information, see the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 – Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas.

Industry sub-division - Payroll jobs

Payroll jobs by Industry sub-division estimates updated through to the week ending 22 August 2020 were added to this release on Wednesday 9 September 2020.

The time series estimates up to the week ending 22 August 2020 are available via Table 6 in the Downloads tab, presented as index values.

The sub-division level is the second broadest grouping of industries within the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Industry sub-divisions are built up from the industry groups which, in turn, are built up from industry classes.

For more, information see the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification.

Table 6 - Percentage change in payroll jobs by Industry and sub-division (a)

Data downloads

I-note

Table 1: National spotlight

Data files
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Table 2: State and territory spotlight

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Table 3: Industry spotlight

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Table 4: Payroll jobs and wages indexes

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Table 5: Statistical Area 4 - Payroll jobs index

Payroll jobs index by Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) are now released independently in this data cube. Payroll jobs index by Industry subdivision now appear in Table 6.

Data files
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Table 6: Industry subdivision - Payroll jobs index

Payroll jobs index by Industry subdivision are now released independently in this data cube.

Data files
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All data cubes

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History of changes

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.55.001.

Methodology

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia methodology, Week ending 22 August 2020

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