Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

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

Reference period
Week ending 11 June 2022
Released
7/07/2022

Key statistics

Between the weeks ending 28 May and 11 June 2022:

  • Payroll jobs, down 0.4%
  • Total wages, down 0.6%

End of financial year reporting

A greater variation in business reporting occurs around the end of the financial year, as businesses 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 payroll jobs and wages estimates and subsequent revisions during June and July. 

Upcoming suspension of wages estimates

The variability in reporting around the end of financial year makes the production of high quality wages indexes difficult. To allow for more complete business reporting for July, wages estimates will be temporarily withdrawn in the next release. This follows the approach the ABS took in 2021. Wages estimates up to the week ending 13 August 2022 will be reinstated in the 8 September 2022 release. 

Update of adjustment method

The ABS has reviewed and updated the aggregate adjustment method used to account for large organisation onboarding, resulting in higher than usual revisions across the time series. These revisions are greater in 2021 and 2022 and impact component indexes differently. The updated method reduces impacts on the underlying characteristics distributions, particularly after the onboarding event, and are a step toward the future release of levels.  

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

Factors affecting interpretation

Revisions

Change periods

National

In the fortnight to 11 June 2022:

  • Payroll jobs decreased by 0.4%, compared to an increase of 0.5% in the previous fortnight
  • Total wages paid decreased by 0.6%, compared to 0.0% in the previous fortnight
Percentage change in payroll jobs and total wages
Fortnight %Month %Year %
Payroll jobs-0.40.13.0
Total wages-0.6-0.55.8

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.

  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 11 June 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • Tasmania, down 0.6%
  • Victoria, down 0.6%

 

Fortnight percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory

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This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the fortnight up to 11 June 2022, by the state and territory of the jobholder's residential address. 

- New South Wales (-0.3%)
- Victoria (-0.6%)
- Queensland (-0.2%)
- South Australia (-0.4%)
- Western Australia (-0.3%)
- Tasmania (-0.6%)
- Northern Territory (0.4%)
- Australian Capital Territory (-0.2%)

Percentage change in payroll jobs, by state and territory
Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
New South Wales-0.30.11.3
Victoria-0.6-0.15.1
Queensland-0.20.43.0
South Australia-0.40.23.0
Western Australia-0.30.13.4
Tasmania-0.6-0.43.4
Northern Territory0.40.62.4
Australian Capital Territory-0.2-0.23.2
Australia-0.40.13.0

Total wages

In the fortnight to 11 June 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • Victoria, down 1.0%
  • Queensland, down 0.8%
Percentage change in total wages, by state and territory
Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
New South Wales-0.50.04.7
Victoria-1.0-1.27.2
Queensland-0.8-0.85.6
South Australia-0.6-0.84.7
Western Australia0.40.26.7
Tasmania-0.3-0.55.5
Northern Territory0.5-0.93.8
Australian Capital Territory-0.5-0.84.5
Australia-0.6-0.55.8

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.

Fortnight percentage change in payroll jobs, by GCCSA regions

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This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the fortnight up to 11 June 2022, by the GCCSA region of the jobholder's residential address. 
- Greater Sydney (-0.8%)
- Rest of New South Wales (0.2%)
- Greater Melbourne (-0.8%)
- Rest of Victoria ( 0.0%)
- Greater Brisbane (-0.3%)
- Rest of Queensland (-0.3%)
- Greater Adelaide (-0.5%)
- Rest of South Australia (-0.7%)
- Greater Perth (-0.5%)
- Rest of Western Australia (-0.2%)
- Greater Hobart (-0.6%)
- Rest of Tasmania (-0.7%)
- Greater Darwin (0.1%)
- Rest of Northern Territory (0.5%)
- Australian Capital Territory (-0.2%)

Footnotes

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

Sex and age group

Indexes of persons aged 15-19 years old by sex can be 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

Payroll jobs

In the fortnight to 11 June 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • worked by females, down 0.5%
  • worked by persons aged 15-19, down 0.8%
Percentage change in payroll jobs, by sex and age group (a)
  Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
SexMales-0.4-0.1-0.1
Females-0.5-0.11.7
Age group (years)15-19-0.80.18.6
20-29-0.40.03.4
30-39-0.40.02.0
40-49-0.40.11.7
50-59-0.20.22.2
60-690.20.65.3
70 and over-0.40.89.5
All persons -0.40.13.0

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.

  1. Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.

Total wages

In the fortnight to 11 June 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • worked by males, down 0.8%
  • worked by persons aged 20-29 and 30-39, both down 1.0%
Percentage change in total wages, by sex and age group (a)
  Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
SexMales-0.8-0.73.2
Females-0.5-0.77.1
Age group (years)15-190.10.814.4
20-29-1.0-0.68.4
30-39-1.0-0.94.9
40-49-0.6-0.64.3
50-59-0.3-0.45.0
60-690.30.07.6
70 and over0.61.910.2
All persons -0.6-0.55.8

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.

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 11 June 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • Public administration and safety, down 2.1%
  • Rental, hiring and real estate services, down 1.2%
Percentage change in payroll jobs, by industry (a)
Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing0.3-0.4-1.6
Mining-0.9-0.85.7
Manufacturing0.70.7-1.5
Electricity, gas, water and waste services-0.10.20.9
Construction0.10.0-2.1
Wholesale trade-0.50.3-1.1
Retail trade-0.10.20.5
Accommodation and food services-0.6-0.5-6.8
Transport, postal and warehousing-0.10.2-1.8
Information media and telecommunications-0.60.23.4
Financial and insurance services-0.40.13.5
Rental, hiring and real estate services-1.2-1.6-1.8
Professional, scientific and technical services-0.5-0.23.0
Administrative and support services-0.4-0.11.3
Public administration and safety-2.11.13.4
Education and training-0.10.52.8
Health care and social assistance-0.30.03.1
Arts and recreation services0.51.48.4
Other services-0.9-1.3-2.1
All industries-0.40.13.0
  1. Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, see Seasonality in Data variability and revisions.

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

Total wages

In the fortnight to 11 June 2022, the largest changes in total wages paid were:

  • Financial and insurance services, down 4.1%
  • Information media and telecommunications, up 2.9%
Percentage change in total wages, by industry (a)
Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing0.30.43.7
Mining-0.6-0.59.8
Manufacturing1.10.72.5
Electricity, gas, water and waste services-2.4-1.85.7
Construction-0.7-0.30.3
Wholesale trade-0.6-1.10.1
Retail trade1.60.61.2
Accommodation and food services0.6-0.4-0.9
Transport, postal and warehousing-1.5-0.14.0
Information media and telecommunications2.95.7-0.1
Financial and insurance services-4.1-1.46.2
Rental, hiring and real estate services-1.2-3.7-1.4
Professional, scientific and technical services-0.5-1.14.4
Administrative and support services-1.4-1.43.1
Public administration and safety-0.80.25.1
Education and training0.50.65.5
Health care and social assistance-1.5-2.47.2
Arts and recreation services1.61.36.9
Other services-1.1-0.82.9
All industries-0.6-0.55.8
  1. Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, see Seasonality in Data variability and revisions.

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. 

These estimates present percentage change between the weeks ending 14 May 2022 and:

  • 30 April 2022, for fortnight
  • 16 April 2022, for month
  • 15 May 2021, for year

In the fortnight to 14 May 2022, the largest changes in payroll jobs were:

  • 200 employees and over, up 1.4%
Percentage change in payroll jobs by employment size, for the week ending 14 May 2022 (a)
Fortnight (%)Month (%)Year (%)
0-19 employees-0.7-0.57.6
20-199 employees0.40.4-3.2
200 employees and over1.41.32.6
All businesses0.60.62.6
  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

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 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

Changes in this release

Within the Methodology page, updates occurred within:

  • How data are processed: text updates in sections - Accrual of end of financial year payments and Aggregate adjustments

Upcoming changes

Temporary withdrawal of wages estimates

Wages estimates will be temporarily withdrawn in the next release on 11 August 2022, to allow for more complete business reporting for July. This follows the approach the ABS took around the end of financial year in 2021.

Throughout the next release (in both tables and data downloads) wages estimates will be replaced with 'not available' (na or NA) while these estimates remain withdrawn. 

Wages estimates, up to the week ending 13 August 2022, will be reinstated in the 8 September 2022 release.

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.

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