Labour Account Australia

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The Australian Labour Account provides quarterly and annual time series for four quadrants: Jobs, People, Hours and Payments

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Reference period
June 2022
Released
14/09/2022
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Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022:

  • Total jobs increased 2.5% to 15.5 million.
  • Filled jobs increased 2.2% to 15.0 million.
  • Secondary jobs increased 5.5% to 1.0 million.
  • Proportion of vacant jobs increased to 3.1%.
  • Multiple job holders increased 4.3% to 898,900.
  • Hours worked increased 2.9%.

An additional information release on 9 November 2022 has provided annual Labour Account estimates for the 2021-22 financial year, including for Industry sub-divisions. Annual Labour Account data are released in Data Explorer, and contain data for Jobs, People, Hours and Payments by Industry Subdivision, Division and Total All Industries.

For 2021-22, a number of revisions have also been implemented into the Labour Account. These include:

  • A new method for allocating annual Labour Force Survey benchmarks for hours worked across all months of the quarters.
  • Refinements to the method used to estimate the number of child workers (employed children aged 5-14).
  • Refinements to the method used to estimate the number of employed short-term non-residents.

New and updated data sources have also been implemented. These include:

  • Updated annual benchmarks used in estimating business side filled jobs.
  • Updated data from the most recent Input-Output and Supply-Use tables.
  • Updated data from the 2021 Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours.
  • Updated data from the 2019-20 Linked Employer-Employee Dataset.

These revisions will also be implemented into the next quarterly Labour Account release (September quarter 2022, to be released on Wednesday 14 December 2022).

 
 Jun-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Jobs     
Total jobs15,457,800382,3002.5%661,9004.5%
Filled jobs14,977,300322,0002.2%552,9003.8%
Job vacancies480,50060,30014.3%109,00029.3%
Main jobs13,968,000269,1002.0%470,1003.5%
Secondary jobs1,009,30052,9005.5%82,7008.9%
Proportion of vacant jobs3.1%0.3 ptsna0.6 ptsna
People     
Employed people13,926,400174,8001.3%461,8003.4%
Multiple job holders898,90037,1004.3%66,8008.0%
Multiple job holding rate6.5%0.2 ptsna0.3 ptsna
Hours     
Hours actually worked5,510.6 million154.7 million2.9%111.1 million2.1%
Payments     
Average income per employed person$21,585.60$428.202.0%$996.004.8%

All data are shown in seasonally adjusted terms

Release of indicative state level jobs estimates from the Labour Account

This release includes an article providing indicative state and territory level industry estimates for the Labour Account jobs series (see Modelling indicative state level industry jobs estimates from the Labour Account).

Data impacts and changes

Upcoming change to the Labour Account release date

The quarterly Labour Account is currently released on a Wednesday, one week after the release of the quarterly National Accounts. To improve the timeliness and alignment between these two accounts, the Labour Account release will be brought forward to the Friday following the National Accounts release on an ongoing basis.

This change will commence with the December quarter 2022 Labour Account, with the release date being brought forward from Wednesday 15 March 2023 to Friday 10 March 2023.

Scope differences between the Labour Account and Labour Force Survey

The Labour Account is designed to complement the headline monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS) by providing measures of all employed people, and all jobs, in the Australian economy. It accounts for the following groups that are outside the scope of the LFS:

  • employed short-term non-residents
  • Australian defence force personnel
  • child workers (employed people under the age of 15)

Thus, the difference between the original estimates of employed persons from the LFS and the Labour Account is the combined estimated contribution for these three groups.

Over the COVID period, there have been large decreases in the number of short-term non-resident arrivals in Australia, with gradual increases in recent quarters as border restrictions have eased. There were decreases in the number of employed children over this period (in line with overall reductions in employment around lock downs and other restrictions). These reductions are not reflected in Labour Force employment estimates but are accounted for in Labour Account estimates.

Child workers (employed people under 15) tend to make the largest contribution to the scope adjustment (to the number of employed people and jobs), while Defence force personnel generally make the largest contribution to hours worked.

In the June quarter 2022, the scope adjustment in the Labour Account comprised:

  • child workers - around three-quarters (71%) of employed people and around a third (30%) of hours worked
  • Defence force personnel - around one in five (20%) employed people and over half (57%) of hours worked
  • short-term non-resident workers - around 10% of employed people and 14% of hours worked

In comparison, in the March quarter 2020, which was prior to the impacts of COVID-19 on Labour Account estimates, the scope adjustment in the Labour Account comprised:

  • child workers - around three in five (62%) employed people, and around a quarter (24%) of hours worked
  • Defence force personnel - close to one in five (18%) employed people and close to half (48%) of hours worked
  • short-term non-resident workers – around one in five (21%) employed people and close to a third (30%) of hours worked

Note, there is a negative adjustment to hours worked from residents working for overseas organisations, hence the components above add to more than 100%.

Jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022:

  • Filled jobs increased by 2.2% following a 0.5% rise in the March quarter 2022. Filled jobs grew by 3.8% through the year.
  • The number of main jobs increased by 269,100 (or 2.0%).
  • The number of multiple job holders increased by 4.3%.
  • The proportion of vacant jobs increased to 3.1% from the 2.8% recorded in the March quarter 2022.
  • The number of public sector jobs decreased by 2.0%, while the number of private sector jobs increased by 2.7%.

Total jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022, the total number of jobs increased by 382,300 (or 2.5%). This consisted of an increase of 60,300 job vacancies and an increase of 322,000 filled jobs.

Filled jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022, the number of filled jobs increased by 322,000 to 15.0 million. 

Filled jobs, by industry, June quarter 2022, seasonally adjusted
Filled jobs ('000)Quarterly change (%)Annual change (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)438.30.42.1
Mining (B)207.11.911.3
Manufacturing (C)923.3-1.65.7
Electricity, gas, water and waste services (D)134.53.66.5
Construction (E)1,230.32.85.2
Wholesale trade (F)567.71.7-3.2
Retail trade (G)1,444.90.60.9
Accommodation and food services (H)1,298.05.911.5
Transport, postal and warehousing (I)695.12.93.6
Information media and telecommunications (J)194.57.75.9
Financial and insurance services (K)477.83.1-2.3
Rental, hiring and real estate services (L)302.70.84.9
Professional, scientific and technical services (M)1,289.55.18.5
Administrative and support services (N)1,041.51.45.6
Public administration and safety (O)753.0-1.2-0.9
Education and training (P)1,073.2-0.11.4
Health care and social assistance (Q)2,027.11.40.1
Arts and recreation services (R)328.110.319.8
Other services (S)550.65.03.1
Total all industries14,977.32.23.8

Main and secondary jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022:

  • Main jobs increased by 269,100 (or 2.0%).
  • Secondary jobs increased by 52,900 (or 5.5%). 
  • The proportion of secondary jobs to filled jobs was 6.7%, compared to 6.5% in the previous quarter.

The three industries with the highest number of secondary jobs were Health care and social assistance, Administrative and support services and Education and training.

Secondary jobs can be held by people who have their main job in the same or a different industry. 

Statistical discrepancy - Filled jobs

The Labour Account compiles independent estimates of the number of filled jobs from both a household and business perspective. The difference between these two estimates is referred to as the "statistical discrepancy".  The household estimates of filled jobs are considered the best measure of labour market activity total economy level, while business sources are considered more reliable estimating the distribution of jobs across industries. As a result, the Labour Account filled jobs estimates are constrained (equivalent) to the household side.

The discrepancy between the two sources is reduced to zero through the balancing processes of the Labour Account, producing a single harmonised or "balanced" number of filled jobs. The balanced estimate of filled jobs incorporates the advantage of the industry distribution derived from business side data, whilst constraining to a total economy estimate sourced from household side data. In original terms the discrepancy between household sources and business sources was 1,316,500 jobs in the June quarter 2022, or 8.8% of the household estimate.

While the business sources have been showing stronger jobs growth over the COVID period, this hasn't impacted on overall Labour Accounts aggregates given the Labour Account jobs estimates are constrained to the household side.

Balancing decisions for Rental, hiring and real estate services and Other services were mostly based on household survey sources. All other industries were mostly based on business survey sources.

People

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022:

  • The total number of employed people increased by 1.3% to 13.9 million. 
  • The number of multiple job holders increased by 4.3%.
  • Unemployed people decreased by 42,800 people to 504,000.

The three industries with the highest number of employed people in the June quarter 2022 were Health care and social assistance, Retail trade and Professional, scientific and technical services.

Hours

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022, the total number of hours actually worked increased by 154.7 million hours (or 2.9%) to 5.5 billion hours.

The three industries with the highest number of hours actually worked in the June quarter 2022 were Health care and social assistance, Construction and Professional, scientific and technical services.

Payments

The Labour Account Payments quadrant presents the costs incurred by enterprises in employing labour, and the income received by people from its provision. Total income consists of compensation of employees and labour income from self-employment. The addition of other related costs to employers to total income will derive total labour costs.

In seasonally adjusted terms for the June quarter 2022:

  • Total labour income increased by $9,662 million (or 3.3%) to $300,610 million. 
  • The average labour income per employed person increased by 2.0% to $21,586.
  • Total compensation of employees increased by 2.9% to $269,203 million.
  • Labour income from self-employment increased by 7.2% to $31,407 million.
  • Total labour costs increased by $11,338 million (3.6%) to $325,684 million. 

The three industries with the highest total labour income in the June quarter 2022 were Health care and social assistance, Professional, scientific and technical services and Construction.

Data downloads

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Time series spreadsheets

Quarterly estimates for Jobs, People, Hours and Payments by Industry Division and Total All Industries.

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Annual estimates for Jobs, People, Hours and Payments by Industry Subdivision, Division and Total All Industries.

Labour Account balanced - Balanced annual estimates for Jobs, People, Hours and Payments by Industry Subdivision, Division and Total All Industries.

Labour Account unbalanced - Unbalanced annual estimates for Jobs, People, Hours and Payments by Total All Industries.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data explorer user guide.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6150.0.55.003.

Post release changes

09/11/2022 - This release was updated with the inclusion of annual Labour Account data (available in Data Explorer). 

Methodology

Labour Account Australia methodology, June 2022

Articles

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