Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

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

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Reference period
Week ending 11 July 2020
Released
28/07/2020
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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 11 July 2020:
 

  • Payroll jobs decreased by 5.6%
  • Total wages decreased by 4.8%
  1. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent weekly movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see the Data Limitations and Related Revisions technical note.


Key COVID-19 dates leading up to the week ending 11 July 2020:

  • 22 March: Prime Minister announces Stage 2 lock down changes, which are progressively implemented
  • 30 March: Prime Minister announces JobKeeper program
  • 8 May: Initial payroll deadline for the JobKeeper program
  • 8 May: Prime Minister announces RoadMap to a COVIDSafe Australia
  • 1 July: Stay at Home restrictions commence for selected Melbourne postcodes
  • 8 July: Stay at Home restrictions commence for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire
     

Key COVID-19 dates after the week ending 11 July 2020:

  • 12 July: Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package ceased
  • 20 July: Altered eligibility for JobKeeper payments for child care providers in place
  • 21 July: Prime Minister announces changes to and extension of JobKeeper program

Jobs and wages by 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 7.3% and Tasmania decreased by 6.8%
  • Total wages : Western Australia decreased by 7.0% and Tasmania decreased by 6.9%
     

Table 1 - Percentage change by states and territories

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
Change between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 JulyChange between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 July
NSW-0.7%-5.3%-1.3%-4.3%
Vic.-1.4%-7.3%-3.0%-4.8%
Qld-0.2%-5.0%-1.7%-4.7%
SA0.2%-5.5%-0.7%-4.1%
WA0.0%-3.1%-1.5%-7.0%
Tas.-0.5%-6.8%-2.4%-6.9%
NT-0.9%-3.7%-1.4%-3.3%
ACT-1.2%-6.4%-2.2%-3.2%
Australia-0.6%-5.6%-1.9%-4.8%

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

Jobs and wages by 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 females decreased by 5.5% and those worked by males decreased by 5.8%
  • Total wages : Payments to males decreased by 6.6% and payments to females decreased by 2.4%
     

Table 2 - Percentage change by sex

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 JulyChange between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 July
Males-0.2%-5.8%-1.8%-6.6%
Females-1.1%-5.5%-2.0%-2.4%
All persons-0.6%-5.6%-1.9%-4.8%

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

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

Jobs and wages by 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 11.3% and those worked by people aged 20-29 decreased by 7.9%
  • Total wages : Payments to people aged under 20 increased by 19.1% and payments to people aged 40-49 decreased by 6.5%
     

Table 3 - Percentage change by age group (a)

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 JulyChange between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 July
Aged under 200.8%-1.8%-0.3%19.1%
20-29 year olds-0.4%-7.9%-1.8%-1.2%
30-39 year olds-0.3%-4.7%-1.5%-4.2%
40-49 year olds-0.2%-3.8%-1.4%-6.5%
50-59 year olds-0.3%-3.7%-1.5%-6.3%
60-69 year olds-1.0%-6.2%-2.2%-5.9%
70 years and over-2.6%-11.3%-4.6%-3.0%
All persons-0.6%-5.6%-1.9%-4.8%

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

Jobs and wages by 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 18.1% and Arts and recreation services decreased by 16.3%
  • Total wages : Mining decreased by 22.6% and Accommodation and food services decreased by 12.2%
     

Table 4 - Percentage changes by Industry

 Payroll jobsTotal wages
 Change between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 JulyChange between 4 July and 11 July (a)Change between 14 March and 11 July
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing-3.9%-10.3%-6.5%-7.5%
Mining1.6%-2.6%1.1%-22.6%
Manufacturing2.0%-4.2%-1.7%-7.1%
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services2.0%3.1%3.8%2.9%
Construction-1.9%-6.9%-5.0%-8.6%
Wholesale Trade1.4%-5.0%-3.2%-7.9%
Retail Trade1.2%-2.6%-1.1%-1.8%
Accommodation and Food Services-0.7%-18.1%-2.2%-12.2%
Transport, Postal and Warehousing-0.1%-6.6%-1.5%-8.5%
Information Media and Telecommunications1.2%-7.5%-3.2%-8.5%
Financial and Insurance Services2.0%1.0%1.5%-6.6%
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services-1.0%-9.2%-4.2%-11.8%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services-0.2%-5.6%0.3%2.5%
Administrative and Support Services-1.8%-8.6%-4.0%-5.1%
Public Administration and Safety-0.7%-0.8%-0.4%-3.7%
Education and Training-0.7%-4.3%-0.6%0.5%
Health Care and Social Assistance-3.7%-2.7%-4.1%-1.6%
Arts and Recreation Services2.2%-16.3%1.7%-1.0%
Other Services-2.4%-7.5%-3.8%-0.7%
All Industries-0.6%-5.6%-1.9%-4.8%

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

Jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4)

Jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) estimates updated through to the week ending 11 July are available below.

The time series estimates for the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) to the week ending 11 July 2020 are available via Table 4 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 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001).

Table 5 - Percentage change in payroll jobs by region

Jobs by Industry sub-division

Jobs by Industry Sub-division estimates updated through to the week ending 27 June 2020 were revised and added to this release on Wednesday 29 July 2020.

The time series estimates for the week ending 14 March 2020 to the week ending 27 June 2020 are available via Table 4 in the Data downloads section, 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 (cat. no. 1292.0).

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

Jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) - Interactive map

To view the jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) - Interactive map, click here

This map uses data contained in Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia, Week ending 11 July 2020.

How to use

  • Search: the magnifying glass icon opens the search function. It is set to look for locations such as addresses, suburbs and postcodes contained within an SA4.
  • Reference week: the date slider can be used to select a particular week of interest, or see changes over time.
  • Data: on the map, an SA4 can be selected to view the underlying data. Data for all SA4s can be in Table 4, available via the Data downloads section.
  • If the maps do not load successfully, please try refreshing this page.
     

More information

Data downloads

I-note

Table 1: National spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [83.2 KB]

Table 2: State and territory spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [357.17 KB]

Table 3: Industry spotlight

Data files
Download xlsx [642.35 KB]

Table 4: Payroll jobs and wages indices

Data files
Download xlsx [2.64 MB]

History of changes

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Methodology

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia methodology, Week ending 11 July 2020

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