MEDIA RELEASE
19 September 2018	Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics provides fresh insights into the jobs that are filled during each year. This information provides reliable annual data on filled jobs for more than 2,200 different regions across Australia.

ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman said the new findings into Australia’s labour market, published in Jobs in Australia, had been made possible by combining a range of data sets.

“For example we know that Australians worked a total of more than 18.5 million jobs in 2015-16, an increase of 490,000 jobs since 2011-12,” Mr Hockman said.

“Delving deeper, we see that in 2015-16, Melbourne’s south-east was the hot-spot for manufacturing jobs, particularly in the Dandenong, Hampton Park – Lynbrook and Keysborough regions."

People living in the Sydney - Haymarket - The Rocks region worked the highest number of jobs in:

• Accommodation and food services,
• Administrative and support services, and
• Retail trade.

“This fascinating level of understanding has been made possible by combining existing ABS data with administrative data from other public sector agencies to provide important insights that are of use to business, communities and governments.”

The data also showed that the highest number of mining jobs were held by people living in Mount Isa, followed by Perth City and Kalgoorlie.

Residents of two Western Australian regions topped the list for the number of construction jobs in 2015-16: Baldivis and Perth City.

Mr Hockman said that Jobs in Australia complemented other ABS measures to build a more comprehensive picture of the labour market. Jobs in Australia data provides new, detailed insights into all jobs held throughout the year, while Labour Force data measures the number of people employed each month, and Labour Accounts data provides the number of filled jobs at a point-in-time each quarter.

Further information can be found in Jobs in Australia, 2011-12 to 2015-16 (cat. no. 6160.0) available for free download from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au).

Media note:

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