Further falls in payroll jobs in Victoria

Media Release
Released
25/08/2020

Payroll jobs fell by 1.0 per cent over the month to 8 August, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Over the month to 8 August, payroll jobs fell by 2.8 per cent in Victoria. Some of the initial impacts from the Stage 4 restrictions, are shown in the latest weekly data as they came into effect.”

“Around 39 per cent of jobs lost in Victoria by mid-April had been regained by 27 June, but by early August this had reduced to 12 per cent.”

Nationally, payroll jobs at 8 August were around 4.9 per cent below mid-March, when Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case. The latest data showed that after an initial period of recovery between mid-April and mid-June, payroll jobs losses had remained between 4 and 5 per cent below mid-March.

By 8 August, around 43 per cent of payroll jobs lost across Australia by mid-April had been recovered. Close to half (52 per cent) of jobs worked by women had been regained, compared to 19 per cent for males.

Payroll jobs worked by people aged under 20 increased 1.5 per cent nationally in the month to 8 August, however, there was a 5.6 per cent decrease in Victoria.

“Female jobs recovery was greatest for those aged under 20, who also experienced the largest fall in jobs through to mid-April,” Mr Jarvis said.

Further information is available in Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia (cat. no. 6160.0.55.001).

The ABS would like to acknowledge the continued support from the Australian Taxation Office in enabling the ABS to produce the statistics, providing weekly insights into the Australian labour market.

Media notes

  • This release includes information on payroll jobs paid through Single Touch Payroll enabled software to the Australian Taxation Office.
  • In each release, as more complete data are received, payroll jobs and wages estimates (including percentage change movement and indexes) are revised.
  • While the ABS accounts for employees being paid with different frequencies, there are points in the year when additional reporting activity is more likely to occur, which may flow through to published estimates.
  • Jobs by Statistical Area 4 estimates through to the week ending 8 August will be added to this release on Wednesday 26 August 2020.
  • An interactive SA4 map examining change in payroll jobs through 2020 will be added to this release on Thursday 27 August 2020.
  • The additional ABS products being published to understand the economic impact of the coronavirus can be found on the ABS COVID-19 page
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) must be attributed as the source.
  • For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team on 1300 175 070 (8:30am - 5:00pm Mon-Fri)
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