Payroll jobs rose 0.3% over the first half of June
Payroll jobs rose by 0.3 per cent nationally in the fortnight to 19 June 2021, following a 0.8 per cent fall in the previous fortnight, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Payroll jobs increased in every state and territory through the first half of June, ranging from 0.1 per cent in New South Wales and Western Australia to 0.6 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory.
“Payroll jobs in Victoria rose by 0.4 per cent in the fortnight to 19 June 2021, as the restrictions associated with its recent lockdown eased. This followed a fall of 2.1 per cent in the previous fortnight.
“Accommodation and food services in Victoria showed early signs of recovery from the lockdown, rising 6.4 per cent across the fortnight, while Arts and recreation services fell, down by 3.2 per cent. This followed large falls in the previous fortnight in both industries (down 15.3 per cent and 10.4 per cent).”
Nationally, payroll jobs in the Accommodation and food services industry rose by 1.4 per cent in the fortnight and fell by 1.0 per cent in Arts and recreation services.
“The Victorian lockdown had a more pronounced impact on payroll jobs in the Greater Melbourne region than in the Rest of Victoria. However, the early signs of recovery in payroll jobs were also more evident in Greater Melbourne,” Mr Jarvis said.
On 27 May 2021, Victoria entered a state-wide lockdown. Restrictions eased in regional areas on 3 June and in metropolitan Melbourne on 10 June 2021.
Payroll jobs and wages data during June and July reflect a greater variation in business reporting, around the end of the financial year. This may result in a higher level of variation in payroll jobs and wages estimates and revisions over this period.
The ABS acknowledges the continued support from the Australian Taxation Office in enabling the ABS to produce weekly insights into the Australian labour market.
Media notes
- Payroll jobs are not seasonally adjusted, which generally require at least three years of data. The seasonal changes accounted for in the longstanding Labour Force statistics series should be considered when interpreting recovery in employment statistics through the COVID period.
- In each release, as more complete data are received, payroll jobs and wages estimates are revised. Fortnightly releases coinciding with the start of month involve higher rates of imputation for payroll jobs with monthly pay frequencies. This can contribute to greater revisions in subsequent releases. Industries with higher proportions of monthly pay frequencies, such as Mining, are particularly affected.
- 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 (such as around the end of the financial year) and this may flow through to published estimates.
- Estimates of payroll jobs by Greater Capital City Statistical Areas are not a standard set of indexes but are available on request. SA4 and SA3 level indexes are available within the release (in Table 5).
- The planned change to a monthly release frequency has been delayed given the current restrictions and lockdowns across the country. For the latest information on the planned changes, see Upcoming changes to this release.
- 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 via 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.