End of financial year reporting
A greater variation in business reporting occurs around the end of the financial year, as employers finalise their employee's earning information and the financial year is reset in payroll systems. This can result in a higher level of variation in reported estimates during June and July, which consequently can see higher than usual revisions in future releases.
Alignment with Labour Force Survey reference weeks
Wherever possible the reference date of the most recent estimates align with the end of the second reference week of the Labour Force Survey. Due to greater variation in reported estimates around the end of the financial year, the most recent estimates in this release refer to the week earlier (that is, 10 June rather than 17 June) providing a longer lag between the reference week and release date resulting in a lower level of imputation.
Upcoming withdrawal of wages estimates
Over the last two years, the ABS has temporarily withdrawn wages estimates from its August release due to incomplete business reporting towards the end of the financial year. With the recent development and release of the new Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator, which will be the ongoing release of earnings statistics from Single Touch Payroll data, wages indexes will be permanently withdrawn from Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia after this issue. See the Upcoming changes section for more information.
Future release of Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator
The next issue of the Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator is planned for the 21 November 2023. It will include the six calendar month reference periods of April through September 2023.