Payroll jobs continue gradual recovery

Media Release
Released
15/12/2020

Payroll jobs rose 0.4 per cent across the fortnight to 28 November, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “More than three quarters (76 per cent) of payroll jobs lost to mid-April had been regained by the end of November, however they remained 2.0 per cent lower than mid-March.”

“Nationally, payroll jobs rose in both the Accommodation and food services (1.2 per cent) and Arts and recreation services (0.4 per cent) industries across the fortnight to 28 November.

“In South Australia payroll jobs in these industries fell over the period, by 4.0 per cent and 7.0 per cent, which also coincided with the brief reintroduction of additional COVID-19 restrictions.

“Across the fortnight to 28 November, the largest increases in payroll jobs within states and territories were seen in Tasmania (1.1 per cent), New South Wales (0.6 per cent), Victoria (0.4 per cent) and Western Australia (0.4 per cent).“

“By the end of November, the variation in payroll jobs lost since 14 March has narrowed across states and territories.”

Further information is available in Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia.

The ABS acknowledges 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

  • Payroll jobs and wages data are only available for 2020 and the data are not seasonally adjusted. The seasonal changes accounted for in the longstanding Labour Force statistics should be considered when interpreting recovery in employment statistics through the COVID period.
  • 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.
  • Estimates of payroll jobs by sub-state regions (Statistical Area 4 and 3) through to the week ending 14 November will be added to this release on Wednesday 16 December 2020. 
  • An interactive map examining change in payroll jobs through 2020 in SA4 and SA3 regions will be updated in this release on Friday 18 December 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 you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team at media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
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