Payroll jobs and wages estimates, sourced from Single Touch Payroll (STP) data
Between the weeks ending 22 May and 5 June 2021:
Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia will change to a monthly release frequency in August 2021, see Upcoming changes to this release for more information.
Updated estimates of payroll jobs by industry subdivision were included in this release on 22 June 2021.
In the fortnight up to the week ending 5 June 2021:
| In the fortnight since 22 May 2021 | In the month since 8 May 2021 | In the year since 6 Jun 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll jobs | -0.9% | -0.6% | 6.7% |
| Total wages | -1.6% | -1.2% | 6.3% |
Estimates of changes throughout this release are calculated using un-rounded index values. They may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded index values.
All geographical areas in this release represent the residential address of the jobholder.
The largest changes in states and territories in the fortnight up to the week ending 5 June 2021 were:
Payroll jobs:
Total wages:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | |
| New South Wales | -0.6% | 2.0% | -1.1% | 1.1% |
| Victoria | -2.1% | 0.9% | -2.8% | 2.5% |
| Queensland | -0.4% | 2.5% | -1.1% | 3.1% |
| South Australia | -0.4% | 3.9% | -1.5% | 3.5% |
| Western Australia | -0.6% | 4.9% | -1.0% | 0.9% |
| Tasmania | -1.1% | 1.3% | -2.0% | 1.3% |
| Northern Territory | 0.0% | 6.4% | -0.1% | 5.9% |
| Australian Capital Territory | -1.1% | 1.7% | -1.3% | 3.9% |
| Australia | -0.9% | 2.3% | -1.6% | 2.1% |
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.
This map presents the percentage change in payroll jobs in the fortnight up to 5 June 2021, by the state and territory of the jobholder's residential address.
- New South Wales (-0.6%)
- Victoria (-2.1%)
- Queensland (-0.4%)
- South Australia (-0.4%)
- Western Australia (-0.6%)
- Tasmania (-1.1%)
- Northern Territory (0.0%)
- Australian Capital Territory (-1.1%)
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 22 May 2021 in Table 5 of the Data downloads. These estimates are only updated in alternate releases.
For more information on the geography used in this release, see the Glossary.
In the fortnight up to the week ending 5 June 2021:
Payroll jobs:
Total wages:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (b) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (b) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | |
| Males | -1.0% | -0.2% | -1.6% | -0.3% |
| Females | -0.9% | 1.8% | -1.5% | 4.6% |
| All persons | -0.9% | 2.3% | -1.6% | 2.1% |
a. Indexes for males and females can move independently from All persons indexes due to the inclusion of persons with 'unknown' sex in the calculation of the All persons index. For more information see the Data components, total and index calculation section in Data limitations and revisions.
b. 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.
The largest changes in age groups in the fortnight up to the week ending 5 June 2021 were:
Payroll jobs:
Total wages:
| Payroll jobs | Total wages | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (a) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | |
| 15-19 year olds | -2.6% | 0.0% | -4.6% | 2.2% |
| 20-29 year olds | -2.0% | 0.0% | -2.9% | 2.8% |
| 30-39 year olds | -1.0% | 2.4% | -1.7% | 2.2% |
| 40-49 year olds | -0.5% | 1.9% | -1.3% | -0.4% |
| 50-59 year olds | -0.2% | 3.2% | -0.9% | 1.8% |
| 60-69 year olds | 0.5% | 7.5% | -0.4% | 8.0% |
| Aged 70 years and over | 0.6% | 8.3% | 0.0% | 13.3% |
| All persons | -0.9% | 2.3% | -1.6% | 2.1% |
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.
Time series estimates of payroll jobs by 5 year age groups (presented as index values) up to the week ending 5 June 2021 are available in Table 8 of the Data downloads.
The largest changes in industries in the fortnight up to the week ending 5 June 2021 were:
Payroll jobs:
Total wages:
| Payroll jobs (a) | Total wages (a) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (b) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | Change between 22 May 2021 and 5 Jun 2021 (b) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | -3.2% | -3.5% | -3.1% | 2.0% |
| Mining | -1.7% | -1.5% | 0.1% | -20.3% |
| Manufacturing | -0.1% | -2.4% | -0.1% | -5.2% |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 0.0% | 2.7% | -3.5% | -3.7% |
| Construction | -1.0% | -0.9% | -0.3% | 1.4% |
| Wholesale trade | -1.3% | -2.5% | -0.5% | -5.8% |
| Retail trade | -0.3% | -0.7% | -1.6% | -0.3% |
| Accommodation and food services | -3.5% | -12.3% | -7.4% | -10.9% |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | -0.5% | -7.3% | -0.6% | -6.5% |
| Information media and telecommunications | -1.7% | -9.6% | -0.7% | -1.4% |
| Financial and insurance services | -0.5% | 7.6% | -4.0% | -1.9% |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | -1.6% | -1.1% | -2.5% | 2.0% |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | -1.8% | -0.3% | -3.2% | 1.5% |
| Administrative and support services | -0.7% | 4.7% | -2.3% | 10.3% |
| Public administration and safety | 0.9% | 12.5% | -0.1% | 9.5% |
| Education and training | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 4.4% |
| Health care and social assistance | -0.9% | 5.3% | -1.1% | 6.8% |
| Arts and recreation services | -2.7% | -3.6% | -2.8% | -2.8% |
| Other services | -2.0% | -0.4% | -3.3% | 5.7% |
| All industries | -0.9% | 2.3% | -1.6% | 2.1% |
a. Some industries experience pronounced seasonality in either payroll jobs and wages or both. For more information, refer to the seasonality section of Data limitations and revisions.
b. 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.
Time series estimates of payroll jobs by industry subdivision (presented as index values) up to the week ending 5 June 2021 are available in Table 6 of the Data downloads. These estimates are only updated in alternate releases.
For more information on the industry classifications used in this release, see the Glossary.
Recent movements in payroll jobs by employment size are subject to higher than usual levels of revision (over a longer period) than other estimates. This is particularly the case for small employers (with under 20 employees). Further information is presented on the impact of revisions on the small employers index, in Variation in revisions in Data limitations and revisions.
| Change between 22 May and 5 Jun 2021 (b) | Change between 14 Mar 2020 and 5 Jun 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 employees | -3.4% | -0.6% |
| 20-199 employees | -1.1% | -0.5% |
| 200 employees and over | 0.6% | 1.4% |
| All businesses | -0.9% | 2.3% |
These estimates are updated in alternate releases. They were last updated on Wednesday 9 June 2021 and will be next updated on Tuesday 6 July 2021.
These estimates are updated in alternate releases. They were updated to the week ending 5 June 2021 on Tuesday 22 June 2021.
Contains estimates of payroll jobs by employment size, including state and territory dimension.
Contains estimates of payroll jobs by 5 year age groups, available in this release since 3 March 2021.
The following section was updated in this release:
Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia will change to a monthly release schedule, with a final fortnightly release on Tuesday 6 July 2021 (for the week ending 19 June 2021).
The first monthly release, which will continue to include weekly indexes, will be in August 2021 for the week ending 17 July 2021. Data for the intervening weeks (back to 19 June 2021) will also be included.
In addition to the change in frequency, the ABS will also extend the time between the final payroll period and the release date, by around 9 days. This will improve the quality of estimates, through reducing the level of imputation (by more than half) and revisions in the most recent weeks of data.
In addition to quality improvements, the frequency change will also enable an expansion of outputs over the coming months.
Further information on these changes, including the dates of the monthly releases in August and September, will be provided in the 6 July 2021 release.
Previously published articles and information of interest are linked below:
This release previously used catalogue number 6160.0.55.001.