Experimental estimates on the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on payroll jobs and wages, sourced from Single Touch Payroll (STP) data
Payroll jobs increased by 1.3% between the weeks ending 16 and 30 January 2021. Largest changes:
Total wages increased by 0.4%. Largest changes:
The imputation method has been updated in this release and applied across all historical data, resulting in revisions across the time series. All indexes (including component indexes) are affected by the updated method. The ABS recommends that analyses of previously published estimates be refreshed with the data from this release. For more information, see the Imputation update subsection of Methods review.
Between the week ending 14 March 2020 and the week ending 30 January 2021:
Between the week ending 16 January 2021 and the week ending 30 January 2021:
Since the week ending 14 March 2020 the largest changes across states and territories were:
Between the week ending 16 January 2021 and 30 January 2021 the largest changes across states and territories were:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | |
| New South Wales | 1.2% | -2.0% | 0.1% | -4.6% |
| Victoria | 1.0% | -3.7% | 0.4% | -2.7% |
| Queensland | 1.8% | -1.7% | 1.1% | -2.6% |
| South Australia | 1.8% | 0.4% | 0.7% | -1.2% |
| Western Australia | 0.6% | 0.6% | -0.3% | -4.3% |
| Tasmania | 2.2% | -1.6% | 0.9% | -2.2% |
| Northern Territory | 2.0% | 0.8% | -1.1% | 1.6% |
| Australian Capital Territory | 1.4% | -2.3% | 1.8% | -1.0% |
| Australia | 1.3% | -1.9% | 0.4% | -3.4% |
a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see Data limitations and revisions. Weekly change data are available in Data downloads.
Updated estimates of payroll jobs by sub-state regions, were added to this release on 17 February 2021.
Time series estimates of payroll jobs by sub-state regions, Statistical Area 4 (SA4) and Statistical Area 3 (SA3), are presented as index values through to the week ending 30 January 2021 in Table 5 of the Data downloads.
For more information see Statistical Geography; Australian Statistical Geography Standard, Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016; or Australian Statistical Geography Standard, Volume 3 - Non-ABS Structures, July 2018.
SA4 regions are specifically designed to reflect labour markets within each state and territory within population limits. In regional areas, SA4s tend to have lower populations (100,000 to 300,000), while in metropolitan areas, SA4s tend to have larger populations (300,000 to 500,000).
SA3 regions generally have populations between 30,000 and 130,000 persons. They are often the functional areas of regional towns and cities with a population in excess of 20,000, or clusters of related suburbs around urban commercial and transport hubs within the major urban areas.
The interactive maps were updated to the week ending 30 January 2021, as part of this release on 19 February 2021.
Maps of SA4 and SA3 regions are updated on alternate fortnights to coincide with the release of sub-state estimates. Change in payroll jobs from the week ending 14 March 2020 for each week up to the week ending 30 January 2021 are presented in the Interactive maps.
SA4 and SA3 boundaries presented accord with the Australian Statistical Geography Standard, Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016.
Since the week ending 14 March 2020:
Between the week ending 16 January 2021 and the week ending 30 January 2021:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | |
| Males | 1.2% | -3.8% | 0.1% | -5.9% |
| Females | 1.1% | -3.0% | 0.7% | -1.1% |
| All persons | 1.3% | -1.9% | 0.4% | -3.4% |
a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see Data limitations and revisions. Weekly change data are available in the Data downloads.
Since the week ending 14 March 2020 the largest changes across age groups were:
Between the week ending 16 January 2021 and the week ending 30 January 2021 the largest changes across age groups were:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | |
| 15-19 year olds | 5.3% | 0.2% | 4.9% | 10.1% |
| 20-29 year olds | 1.3% | -3.3% | 1.2% | -1.5% |
| 30-39 year olds | 0.9% | -1.2% | 0.1% | -3.2% |
| 40-49 year olds | 1.1% | -1.4% | 0.3% | -5.4% |
| 50-59 year olds | 1.1% | -0.4% | 0.3% | -3.6% |
| 60-69 year olds | 1.0% | 1.4% | -0.3% | 0.7% |
| Aged 70 years and over | 0.9% | -0.7% | -0.9% | 3.3% |
| All persons | 1.3% | -1.9% | 0.4% | -3.4% |
a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. For more information, please see Data limitations and revisions. Weekly change data are available in Data downloads.
Since the week ending 14 March 2020 the largest changes across industry were:
Between the week ending 16 January 2021 and the week ending 30 January 2021 the largest changes across industry were:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -0.2% | -4.0% | -2.6% | -2.1% |
| Mining (b) | 1.4% | -1.4% | 1.0% | -21.0% |
| Manufacturing | 1.8% | -3.6% | 0.7% | -7.7% |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 0.9% |
| Construction | 2.2% | -5.4% | -0.2% | -7.8% |
| Wholesale trade | 0.4% | -2.6% | 0.5% | -9.7% |
| Retail trade | 1.1% | 0.7% | -0.4% | 0.7% |
| Accommodation and food services | 2.6% | -11.5% | 3.0% | -8.0% |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 1.6% | -6.3% | 0.1% | -10.2% |
| Information media and telecommunications | 2.1% | -10.6% | 4.7% | -6.9% |
| Financial and insurance services | 0.5% | 5.0% | 0.0% | -5.9% |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 1.2% | -2.9% | -1.0% | -2.2% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | -0.2% | -2.6% | -0.7% | -3.5% |
| Administrative and support services | 2.7% | -2.6% | 0.4% | -3.5% |
| Public administration and safety | 2.4% | 2.5% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| Education and training (c) | 2.6% | -12.0% | 1.4% | -5.6% |
| Health care and social assistance | -0.2% | 2.1% | -0.2% | 4.5% |
| Arts and recreation services | 1.1% | -5.5% | 1.2% | -2.7% |
| Other services | 0.4% | -4.7% | -0.9% | 0.1% |
| All industries | 1.3% | -1.9% | 0.4% | -3.4% |
a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs and wages. Weekly change data are available in Data downloads.
b. The Mining industry wages estimates in March and September may include annual bonuses. Please refer to the seasonality section in Data limitations and revisions for further information.
c. The Education and training industry has a marked seasonal low across December and January. Please refer to the seasonality section in Data limitations and revisions for further information.
Time series estimates of payroll jobs by industry subdivision (presented as index values) up to the week ending 16 January 2021 are available in Table 6 of the Data downloads.
The subdivision level is the second broadest grouping of industries within the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification. Industry subdivisions are built up from the industry groups which, in turn, are built up from industry classes.
The following experimental estimates present payroll jobs by employment size between the week ending 14 March 2020 and the week ending 30 January 2021.
Care should be exercised when focusing on recent movements in payroll jobs by employment size, as they are subject to higher than usual levels of revision (over a longer period) than other estimates. As part of the updating of additional data sources, the ABS is investigating underlying data to identify the cause and establish a method to reduce the future level of revisions in this series.
| Change between 16 Jan 2021 and 30 Jan 2021 | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 30 Jan 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 20 employees | 0.6% | -3.9% | |
| New South Wales | 0.5% | -5.6% | |
| Victoria | 0.1% | -5.7% | |
| Queensland | 1.5% | -1.9% | |
| South Australia | 0.9% | -0.5% | |
| Western Australia | -0.5% | -0.2% | |
| Tasmania | 1.5% | -1.9% | |
| Northern Territory | 1.8% | -1.8% | |
| Australian Capital Territory | 0.3% | -4.0% | |
| 20-199 employees | 1.4% | -4.4% | |
| New South Wales | 1.5% | -4.5% | |
| Victoria | 0.9% | -7.0% | |
| Queensland | 2.4% | -2.6% | |
| South Australia | 2.3% | -2.7% | |
| Western Australia | -0.3% | -1.8% | |
| Tasmania | 1.3% | -6.4% | |
| Northern Territory | 1.7% | -2.7% | |
| Australian Capital Territory | 2.3% | -5.1% | |
| 200 employees and over | 1.5% | -1.8% | |
| New South Wales | 1.4% | -1.1% | |
| Victoria | 1.5% | -2.7% | |
| Queensland | 1.7% | -3.6% | |
| South Australia | 2.1% | 0.3% | |
| Western Australia | 1.5% | 0.1% | |
| Tasmania | 3.3% | -1.0% | |
| Northern Territory | 2.2% | 2.3% | |
| Australian Capital Territory | 1.5% | -2.1% |
a. Care should be exercised when focusing on the most recent movements in payroll jobs. For more information, please see Data limitations and revisions.
Employment size variables were determined from ABS Business Register data. The ABS Business Register is populated using administrative data from the Australian Business Register (ABR) and business data from the Australian Tax Office (ATO). Data on the structures of large and complex businesses are also collected by ABS. The ABS Business Register is updated regularly and a frame of business, containing business characteristic information, is produced quarterly for use in the production of statistics.
The March 2020 quarterly frame was used to determine employment size for businesses reporting their payroll via STP and subsequently allocate their reported payroll jobs against. Once a payroll job is allocated to an employment size category, it is held constant against that category over time. By using the March 2020 quarter frame and holding employment size categorisation constant, the ABS is able to present information about the change in payroll jobs based on the employment size of businesses before Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case on 14 March 2020.
Businesses which are newly created after March 2020 are unable to be assigned a size and are subsequently excluded from the index calculation of employment size groups. These 'new' businesses are included in the calculation of all sizes category (for state and territory, and national level estimates). The number of STP reporting businesses 'born' since Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 in March 2020 is considered small, hence their exclusion is expected to have minimal impact on the estimates. The ABS exploring how to incorporate newly created businesses into the employment size estimates and may include them in a future release.
Estimates of payroll jobs by Statistical Area 4 (SA4) and Statistical Area 3 (SA3) to the week ending 30 January 2021, as updated on Wednesday 17 February 2021.
Estimates of payroll jobs by industry subdivision to the week ending 16 January 2021, as updated on Wednesday 3 February 2021.
Updated to include Table 5 as released on Wednesday 17 February 2021.
This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.55.001.
The imputation method has been updated and applied across all historical data, resulting in revisions across the time series. All indexes (including component indexes) are affected by the updated method.
The year-end variability section (as updated in the 2 February 2021 release) is now located in the article: Year-end data variability.
The following sections of the Methodology have been updated in this release:
19 February 2021: Interactive maps updated to the week ending 30 January 2021.
17 February 2021: Sub-state - Payroll jobs indexes (Table 5 of the Data downloads) were updated to the week ending 30 January 2021.