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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 15 April 2023

Released

11/05/2023

View all releases

Key statistics

Between the weeks ending 18 March 2023 and 15 April 2023:

Payroll jobs, down 0.9%
Total wages paid, down 3.2%

Monthly change

Monthly change periods presented in this release reflect the change between the reference date (which aligns with the Labour Force reference weeks) and the four weeks prior to it. Users should note that there are five weeks of data since the reference date of the previous release (week ending 11 March 2023).

Comparisons of change at mid-April

The Easter holiday period has a strong seasonal influence on estimates to mid-April. The altered timing of Easter each year can impact the comparability of change in this period between years. In 2023, Easter fell a week earlier than in 2022, and a week later than in 2021.

Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator

On 21 June 2023, the ABS will release the first issue of the Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator. The new indicator is based on Single Touch Payroll data and will include movements and level estimates in wages and salaries paid by employers to employees. The first issue will relate to the calendar month reference period of April 2023.

Factors affecting interpretation

These estimates are not seasonally adjusted. Seasonality can affect the interpretation of change in payroll jobs and wages, particularly between sub-annual periods. While annual comparisons can assist in understanding underlying change, they are less useful when events such as public holidays or pandemic lockdowns don't occur in the same week in both years.

In addition, when comparing the change in payroll jobs and wages between any two periods, interpretation can be complicated by variations in their composition. Payroll job indexes are compiled from over 11 million jobs and variations in the types of jobs reported can result in compositional change (which is not quantified). For example, each payroll job in each week:

is counted in the same way regardless of job status (full-time, part-time or casual), hence variations in demand for casual staff can influence week-on-week change.
represents an individual in every paid job reported via STP, hence jobholders working multiple jobs are counted more than once. While multiple jobholders account for less than 10% of all payroll jobs, they can increase the rate of change seen week-to-week (in some industries) in circumstances where they are unable to work in any of their jobs (e.g. due to illness) and are not paid when absent.

Wages can be more heavily influenced by week-to-week change in composition, as the wages index reflects movements in aggregate wages and salaries paid (unlike the ABS Wage Price Index which presents changes in the price of labour unaffected by compositional shifts in the labour force, hours worked or employee characteristics). Variability in wages indexes in this release in any given week may be due to:

changes in hours worked,
the inclusion of cyclical payments such as bonuses, commissions or lump sum payment of leave loading,
payment of penalty rates for public holidays (which may not fall on the same date each year), or
the inclusion of irregular payments such as overtime, ad hoc or one-off payments relating to employee recognition or enterprise agreement sign-on.

Compositional change can also differ at the industry or state and territory level, particularly when there are localised labour market issues.

Alternative period comparisons

The combination of seasonal effects and differences in composition can increase the volatility of week-on-week or month-on-month changes in these estimates. For these reasons, the ABS recommends using comparisons of the current month to the same month in the previous year, or 3 months prior, to understand any trends in the payroll jobs and wages estimates presented. These comparisons will likely reduce the impact of seasonal factors and compositional change, making trends easier to identify.

Earnings guide

To learn more about the different labour measures available, their purpose and how to use them, see our Earnings guide.

Revisions

Change periods

National

In the month to 15 April 2023:

Payroll jobs decreased by 0.9%, compared to an increase of 0.9% in the previous month
Total wages paid decreased by 3.2%, compared to an increase of 0.9% in the previous month

Percentage change in payroll jobs and total wages
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
Payroll jobs	-0.8	-0.9	4.0
Total wages	-2.8	-3.2	8.2

Estimates of change 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.

Payroll jobs and total wages index (a)(b)
Week ending	Payroll jobs (pts)	Total wages (pts)
16-Apr-22	106.4	111.8
23-Apr-22	106.0	110.4
30-Apr-22	106.6	111.1
07-May-22	107.1	110.5
14-May-22	107.4	110.5
21-May-22	107.7	110.4
28-May-22	107.9	110.8
04-Jun-22	107.8	111.9
11-Jun-22	108.2	113.4
18-Jun-22	108.6	115.0
25-Jun-22	108.5	116.6
02-Jul-22	108.5	115.9
09-Jul-22	109.4	114.5
16-Jul-22	109.3	114.6
23-Jul-22	109.4	115.0
30-Jul-22	109.8	115.4
06-Aug-22	109.8	115.7
13-Aug-22	110.1	115.5
20-Aug-22	110.2	116.2
27-Aug-22	110.4	116.8
03-Sep-22	110.3	119.7
10-Sep-22	110.5	121.8
17-Sep-22	110.5	123.3
24-Sep-22	110.1	122.0
01-Oct-22	109.7	119.9
08-Oct-22	109.8	117.8
15-Oct-22	110.4	117.9
22-Oct-22	110.7	117.4
29-Oct-22	110.7	117.2
05-Nov-22	110.8	118.0
12-Nov-22	111.3	118.5
19-Nov-22	111.5	119.2
26-Nov-22	111.7	121.4
03-Dec-22	112.0	123.5
10-Dec-22	111.7	123.8
17-Dec-22	111.0	124.1
24-Dec-22	107.7	118.5
31-Dec-22	103.0	111.9
07-Jan-23	102.9	111.9
14-Jan-23	105.3	114.6
21-Jan-23	107.4	116.8
28-Jan-23	108.5	117.4
04-Feb-23	109.7	121.7
11-Feb-23	110.3	123.8
18-Feb-23	110.7	123.9
25-Feb-23	111.1	124.0
04-Mar-23	111.4	125.0
11-Mar-23	111.5	124.5
18-Mar-23	111.7	125.0
25-Mar-23	111.8	125.1
01-Apr-23	111.6	124.5
08-Apr-23	111.0	121.5
15-Apr-23	110.7	121.0

Payroll jobs and total wages index (a)(b)

["Week ending","Payroll jobs","Total wages"]

[["16-Apr-22","23-Apr-22","30-Apr-22","07-May-22","14-May-22","21-May-22","28-May-22","04-Jun-22","11-Jun-22","18-Jun-22","25-Jun-22","02-Jul-22","09-Jul-22","16-Jul-22","23-Jul-22","30-Jul-22","06-Aug-22","13-Aug-22","20-Aug-22","27-Aug-22","03-Sep-22","10-Sep-22","17-Sep-22","24-Sep-22","01-Oct-22","08-Oct-22","15-Oct-22","22-Oct-22","29-Oct-22","05-Nov-22","12-Nov-22","19-Nov-22","26-Nov-22","03-Dec-22","10-Dec-22","17-Dec-22","24-Dec-22","31-Dec-22","07-Jan-23","14-Jan-23","21-Jan-23","28-Jan-23","04-Feb-23","11-Feb-23","18-Feb-23","25-Feb-23","04-Mar-23","11-Mar-23","18-Mar-23","25-Mar-23","01-Apr-23","08-Apr-23","15-Apr-23"],[[106.40000000000001],[106],[106.59999999999999],[107.09999999999999],[107.40000000000001],[107.7],[107.90000000000001],[107.8],[108.2],[108.59999999999999],[108.5],[108.5],[109.40000000000001],[109.3],[109.40000000000001],[109.8],[109.8],[110.09999999999999],[110.2],[110.40000000000001],[110.3],[110.5],[110.5],[110.09999999999999],[109.7],[109.8],[110.40000000000001],[110.7],[110.7],[110.8],[111.3],[111.5],[111.7],[112],[111.7],[111],[107.7],[103],[102.90000000000001],[105.3],[107.40000000000001],[108.5],[109.7],[110.3],[110.7],[111.09999999999999],[111.40000000000001],[111.5],[111.7],[111.8],[111.59999999999999],[111],[110.7]],[[111.8],[110.40000000000001],[111.09999999999999],[110.5],[110.5],[110.40000000000001],[110.8],[111.90000000000001],[113.40000000000001],[115],[116.59999999999999],[115.90000000000001],[114.5],[114.59999999999999],[115],[115.40000000000001],[115.7],[115.5],[116.2],[116.8],[119.7],[121.8],[123.3],[122],[119.90000000000001],[117.8],[117.90000000000001],[117.40000000000001],[117.2],[118],[118.5],[119.2],[121.40000000000001],[123.5],[123.8],[124.09999999999999],[118.5],[111.90000000000001],[111.90000000000001],[114.59999999999999],[116.8],[117.40000000000001],[121.7],[123.8],[123.90000000000001],[124],[125],[124.5],[125],[125.09999999999999],[124.5],[121.5],[121]]]

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Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.
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 month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

Queensland, down 1.3%
Tasmania, down 1.2%

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
New South Wales	-1.0	-0.9	3.9
Victoria	-0.9	-1.1	3.7
Queensland	-0.9	-1.3	4.2
South Australia	-0.4	-0.2	4.0
Western Australia	-0.3	-0.2	5.3
Tasmania	-1.0	-1.2	2.0
Northern Territory	-0.8	-0.5	5.4
Australian Capital Territory	-0.6	-0.9	3.5
Australia	-0.8	-0.9	4.0

Monthly percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory

This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the month up to 15 April 2023, by the state and territory of the jobholder's residential address.

Total wages

In the month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

Western Australia and New South Wales, both down 3.8%
Victoria, down 3.4%

Percentage change in total wages, by state and territory
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
New South Wales	-3.7	-3.8	8.3
Victoria	-2.9	-3.4	7.2
Queensland	-1.5	-2.3	8.7
South Australia	-1.7	-1.5	7.9
Western Australia	-3.5	-3.8	9.4
Tasmania	-1.3	-2.7	8.3
Northern Territory	-0.5	-1.0	10.0
Australian Capital Territory	-1.4	-1.3	7.0
Australia	-2.8	-3.2	8.2

Sub-state - payroll jobs

The jobholder characteristic of sub-state geography is primarily sourced from the Client Register and as the snapshot ages, sees a higher proportion of unknowns than some other characteristics. State and territory level indexes are not affected by this issue as that characteristic is also sourced from STP data.

The current Client Register snapshot used to source sub-state geography was taken in mid-2021 and implemented in these estimates in February 2022. In mid-April 2023, the proportion of jobholders with unknown sub-state geography is around 5.8%. As such, the ABS recommends that care be exercised when using these indexes to make long term comparisons.

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.

Monthly percentage change in payroll jobs, by GCCSA regions

This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the month up to 15 April 2023, by the GCCSA region of the jobholder's residential address.

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

Sex and age group

Suspension of indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex

In mid-April 2023, the proportion of jobholders with unknown sex has risen to 5.8%. These jobholders are not evenly distributed, hence this proportion differs across detailed indexes which include sex, and can affect comparisons over time. Indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex are affected by a higher proportion of records with unknown sex than other age groups. For more information, see the Update of jobholder characteristics in the historical Methods review.

In mid-April 2023, the proportion of jobholders with unknown sex for the 15-19 year old age group is around 45%. Subsequently, indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex have been withdrawn in this release (in Table 4 and Table 8 of the data downloads) until the sex characteristic is next updated in these estimates.

Payroll jobs

In the month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

worked by males, down 1.2%
worked by persons aged 15-19, down 2.7%

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by sex and age group (a)
		Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
Sex	Males	-0.9	-1.2	-0.8
Sex	Females	-0.8	-1.0	1.4
Age group (years)	15-19	-1.2	-2.7	5.1
	20-29	-0.9	-1.1	3.9
	30-39	-0.6	-0.7	3.9
	40-49	-0.7	-0.8	3.3
	50-59	-0.7	-0.8	2.5
	60-69	-1.2	-0.4	6.4
	70 and over	-3.1	-0.6	10.6
All persons		-0.8	-0.9	4.0

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.

Payroll jobs by sex (a)
Week ending	Males (pts)	Females (pts)
16-Apr-22	103.8	104.8
23-Apr-22	103.3	104.4
30-Apr-22	103.6	105.0
07-May-22	103.7	105.7
14-May-22	103.8	106.1
21-May-22	104.0	106.3
28-May-22	104.2	106.3
04-Jun-22	104.2	106.1
11-Jun-22	104.6	106.4
18-Jun-22	104.9	106.6
25-Jun-22	104.6	106.7
02-Jul-22	104.6	106.5
09-Jul-22	105.9	106.8
16-Jul-22	105.8	106.6
23-Jul-22	105.8	106.6
30-Jul-22	106.0	107.1
06-Aug-22	105.9	107.1
13-Aug-22	106.1	107.3
20-Aug-22	106.1	107.4
27-Aug-22	106.1	107.6
03-Sep-22	105.9	107.3
10-Sep-22	106.0	107.5
17-Sep-22	105.9	107.5
24-Sep-22	105.5	106.9
01-Oct-22	105.1	106.4
08-Oct-22	105.1	106.4
15-Oct-22	105.5	107.0
22-Oct-22	105.6	107.3
29-Oct-22	105.5	107.4
05-Nov-22	105.4	107.4
12-Nov-22	105.7	107.6
19-Nov-22	105.8	107.9
26-Nov-22	105.8	108.1
03-Dec-22	105.8	108.3
10-Dec-22	105.6	107.8
17-Dec-22	104.8	106.9
24-Dec-22	101.8	103.8
31-Dec-22	97.5	99.5
07-Jan-23	97.7	98.9
14-Jan-23	100.1	100.8
21-Jan-23	102.0	102.7
28-Jan-23	102.7	103.9
04-Feb-23	103.4	105.2
11-Feb-23	103.8	105.9
18-Feb-23	103.9	106.3
25-Feb-23	104.1	106.7
04-Mar-23	104.2	107.1
11-Mar-23	104.2	107.2
18-Mar-23	104.2	107.3
25-Mar-23	104.2	107.4
01-Apr-23	103.9	107.1
08-Apr-23	103.3	106.5
15-Apr-23	103.0	106.2

Payroll jobs by sex (a)

["Week ending","Males","Females"]

[["16-Apr-22","23-Apr-22","30-Apr-22","07-May-22","14-May-22","21-May-22","28-May-22","04-Jun-22","11-Jun-22","18-Jun-22","25-Jun-22","02-Jul-22","09-Jul-22","16-Jul-22","23-Jul-22","30-Jul-22","06-Aug-22","13-Aug-22","20-Aug-22","27-Aug-22","03-Sep-22","10-Sep-22","17-Sep-22","24-Sep-22","01-Oct-22","08-Oct-22","15-Oct-22","22-Oct-22","29-Oct-22","05-Nov-22","12-Nov-22","19-Nov-22","26-Nov-22","03-Dec-22","10-Dec-22","17-Dec-22","24-Dec-22","31-Dec-22","07-Jan-23","14-Jan-23","21-Jan-23","28-Jan-23","04-Feb-23","11-Feb-23","18-Feb-23","25-Feb-23","04-Mar-23","11-Mar-23","18-Mar-23","25-Mar-23","01-Apr-23","08-Apr-23","15-Apr-23"],[[103.8],[103.3],[103.59999999999999],[103.7],[103.8],[104],[104.2],[104.2],[104.59999999999999],[104.90000000000001],[104.59999999999999],[104.59999999999999],[105.90000000000001],[105.8],[105.8],[106],[105.90000000000001],[106.09999999999999],[106.09999999999999],[106.09999999999999],[105.90000000000001],[106],[105.90000000000001],[105.5],[105.09999999999999],[105.09999999999999],[105.5],[105.59999999999999],[105.5],[105.40000000000001],[105.7],[105.8],[105.8],[105.8],[105.59999999999999],[104.8],[101.8],[97.5],[97.700000000000003],[100.09999999999999],[102],[102.7],[103.40000000000001],[103.8],[103.90000000000001],[104.09999999999999],[104.2],[104.2],[104.2],[104.2],[103.90000000000001],[103.3],[103]],[[104.8],[104.40000000000001],[105],[105.7],[106.09999999999999],[106.3],[106.3],[106.09999999999999],[106.40000000000001],[106.59999999999999],[106.7],[106.5],[106.8],[106.59999999999999],[106.59999999999999],[107.09999999999999],[107.09999999999999],[107.3],[107.40000000000001],[107.59999999999999],[107.3],[107.5],[107.5],[106.90000000000001],[106.40000000000001],[106.40000000000001],[107],[107.3],[107.40000000000001],[107.40000000000001],[107.59999999999999],[107.90000000000001],[108.09999999999999],[108.3],[107.8],[106.90000000000001],[103.8],[99.5],[98.900000000000006],[100.8],[102.7],[103.90000000000001],[105.2],[105.90000000000001],[106.3],[106.7],[107.09999999999999],[107.2],[107.3],[107.40000000000001],[107.09999999999999],[106.5],[106.2]]]

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Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.

Total wages

In the month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

worked by males, down 4.2%
worked by persons aged 40-49, down 4.6%

Percentage change in payroll wages, by sex and age group (a)
		Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
Sex	Males	-3.6	-4.2	6.0
Sex	Females	-2.0	-2.2	6.7
Age group (years)	15-19	4.2	2.5	11.4
	20-29	-0.9	-1.5	8.7
	30-39	-2.2	-2.7	8.6
	40-49	-4.1	-4.6	7.9
	50-59	-3.9	-4.1	6.6
	60-69	-3.1	-2.5	9.5
	70 and over	-5.1	-1.7	13.3
All persons		-2.8	-3.2	8.2

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 month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

Accommodation and food services, down 2.2%
Administrative and support services, down 2.1%

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by industry (a)
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	-1.0	-1.3	-5.7
Mining	0.0	-0.4	8.5
Manufacturing	-0.5	-0.7	0.2
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	0.6	0.4	4.6
Construction	-1.2	-1.8	-1.0
Wholesale trade	-0.1	-0.5	3.3
Retail trade	-0.8	-1.2	1.0
Accommodation and food services	-2.1	-2.2	-0.3
Transport, postal and warehousing	-0.8	-1.4	1.9
Information media and telecommunications	-0.7	-0.8	6.3
Financial and insurance services	-0.1	-0.4	3.2
Rental, hiring and real estate services	-0.6	-1.3	0.1
Professional, scientific and technical services	0.0	-0.2	2.1
Administrative and support services	-1.9	-2.1	1.7
Public administration and safety	-1.9	-0.8	2.7
Education and training	-0.9	-0.5	6.4
Health care and social assistance	-0.1	-0.2	4.8
Arts and recreation services	-1.9	-1.9	7.6
Other services	-0.3	-0.8	0.8
All industries	-0.8	-0.9	4.0

Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, see Seasonality in Data variability and revisions.

Percentage change in payroll jobs by industry (a)
	Month to 16 April 2022 (%)	Month to 15 April 2023 (%)
Accommodation & food services	-2.5	-2.2
Administrative & support services	-1.6	-2.1
Arts & recreation services	-0.2	-1.9
Construction	-0.5	-1.8
Transport, postal & warehousing	-1.4	-1.4
Agriculture, forestry & fishing	-1.4	-1.3
Rental, hiring & real estate services	0.4	-1.3
Retail trade	-0.5	-1.2
Other services	-0.7	-0.8
Information media & telecommunications	-0.7	-0.8
Public administration & safety	-1.0	-0.7
Manufacturing	-0.3	-0.6
Education & training	-2.4	-0.5
Wholesale trade	-0.1	-0.5
Financial & insurance services	-0.8	-0.4
Mining	1.7	-0.4
Health care & social assistance	0.5	-0.2
Professional, scientific & technical services	0.5	-0.2
Electricity, gas, water & waste services	0.6	0.4

Percentage change in payroll jobs by industry (a)

["","Month to 16 April 2022","Month to 15 April 2023"]

[["Accommodation & food services","Administrative & support services","Arts & recreation services","Construction","Transport, postal & warehousing","Agriculture, forestry & fishing","Rental, hiring & real estate services","Retail trade","Other services","Information media & telecommunications","Public administration & safety","Manufacturing","Education & training","Wholesale trade","Financial & insurance services","Mining","Health care & social assistance","Professional, scientific & technical services","Electricity, gas, water & waste services"],[[-2.5],[-1.6000000000000001],[-0.20000000000000001],[-0.5],[-1.3999999999999999],[-1.3999999999999999],[0.40000000000000002],[-0.5],[-0.69999999999999996],[-0.69999999999999996],[-1],[-0.29999999999999999],[-2.3999999999999999],[-0.10000000000000001],[-0.80000000000000004],[1.7],[0.5],[0.5],[0.59999999999999998]],[[-2.2000000000000002],[-2.1000000000000001],[-1.8999999999999999],[-1.8],[-1.3999999999999999],[-1.3],[-1.3],[-1.2],[-0.80000000000000004],[-0.80000000000000004],[-0.69999999999999996],[-0.59999999999999998],[-0.5],[-0.5],[-0.40000000000000002],[-0.40000000000000002],[-0.20000000000000001],[-0.20000000000000001],[0.40000000000000002]]]

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Industries ranked by percentage change in the latest month.

Total wages

In the month to 15 April 2023, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

Financial and insurance services, down 12.7%
Mining, down 10.5%

Percentage change in total wages, by industry (a)
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	-4.9	-5.4	0.2
Mining	-8.8	-10.5	14.9
Manufacturing	-3.9	-6.2	6.3
Electricity, gas, water and waste services	-3.7	-0.9	11.0
Construction	-2.4	-1.6	7.2
Wholesale trade	-4.8	-5.5	7.6
Retail trade	4.1	0.3	9.4
Accommodation and food services	0.4	0.9	1.7
Transport, postal and warehousing	0.3	1.3	9.6
Information media and telecommunications	-3.1	-2.8	12.3
Financial and insurance services	-13.3	-12.7	8.8
Rental, hiring and real estate services	-0.9	-0.8	6.8
Professional, scientific and technical services	-3.4	-4.5	5.9
Administrative and support services	-6.4	-6.4	4.6
Public administration and safety	-0.8	-0.5	5.8
Education and training	-1.8	-1.6	7.5
Health care and social assistance	0.0	0.0	3.7
Arts and recreation services	0.7	-1.7	11.9
Other services	-0.5	-0.2	9.5
All industries	-2.8	-3.2	8.2

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.

Industry employment guide

To learn more about the different labour measures available, their purpose and how to use them, see our Industry employment guide.

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.

This release presents percentage change between the weeks ending 11 March 2023 and:

25 February 2023, for fortnight
11 February 2023, for month
12 March 2022, for year

In the month to 11 March 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

20-199 employees, up 1.4%

Percentage change in payroll jobs by employment size, for the week ending 11 March 2023 (a)
	Fortnight (%)	Month (%)	Year (%)
0-19 employees	0.2	0.6	5.3
20-199 employees	0.6	1.4	2.7
200 employees and over	0.4	1.2	5.0
All businesses	0.4	1.1	4.5

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.

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.

Data files

Download xlsx [229.31 KB]

Data downloads

From the release of 11 May 2023, indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex have been suspended. These estimates were previously available in Tables 4 and 8, but have been replaced with NA (not available) from this release onwards.

Table 4: Payroll jobs and wages indexes

Data files

Download xlsx [6.7 MB]

Table 5: Sub-state - Payroll jobs indexes

Data files

Download xlsx [544.15 KB]

Table 6: Industry subdivision - Payroll jobs indexes

Data files

Download xlsx [133.81 KB]

Table 7: Employer characteristics - Payroll jobs index

Data files

Download xlsx [67.22 KB]

Table 8: Jobholder characteristics - Payroll jobs index

Data files

Download xlsx [79.37 KB]

Table 9: Sector - Payroll jobs index

Data files

Download xlsx [59.18 KB]

All data cubes

Data files

Download zip [4.87 MB]

Previously published articles and information of interest are linked below:

Characteristics spotlight: 2022 (August 2022)
Characteristics spotlight: 2021 (May 2021)
Seasonality spotlight: 2022 to 2023 year end (April 2023)
Seasonality spotlight: 2021 to 2022 year end (February 2022)
Seasonality spotlight: 2020 to 2021 year end (February 2021)
A year of COVID-19 through payroll jobs and wages statistics (March 2021)
Regional spotlight: New South Wales and Queensland (April 2022)

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.55.001.

Methodology

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia methodology, Week ending 15 April 2023

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APA

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

APA

Key statistics

Monthly change

Comparisons of change at mid-April

Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator

Factors affecting interpretation

Alternative period comparisons

Earnings guide

Revisions

Additional adjustments to early 2020

Change periods

National

State and territory

Payroll jobs

Monthly percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory

Total wages

Sub-state - payroll jobs

Monthly percentage change in payroll jobs, by GCCSA regions

Sex and age group

Suspension of indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex

Payroll jobs

Total wages

5 year age groups - Payroll jobs

Industry

Payroll jobs

Total wages

Industry subdivision - Payroll jobs

Private sector industry - Payroll jobs

Industry employment guide

Employment size

Distribution of characteristics

Table 20: Payroll jobs - characteristics distributions

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

Table 9: Sector - Payroll jobs index

All data cubes

Previous articles

Previous catalogue number

Methodology

Media releases

Seasonal fall in payroll jobs into April

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