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
March 2022
Released
8/06/2022
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Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022:

  • Total jobs increased 0.6% to 15.0 million.
  • Filled jobs increased 0.4% to 14.6 million.
  • Secondary jobs decreased 0.4% to 951,900.
  • Proportion of vacant jobs increased to 2.8%.
  • Multiple job holders decreased 1.3% to 857,900.
  • Hours worked decreased 0.9%.
 
 Mar-22Quarterly changeQuarterly change (%)Annual changeAnnual change (%)
Jobs     
Total jobs15,023,20082,8000.6%536,6003.7%
Filled jobs14,603,00064,2000.4%403,7002.8%
Job vacancies420,20018,7004.6%132,80046.2%
Main jobs13,651,10068,1000.5%348,6002.6%
Secondary jobs951,900-3,900-0.4%55,1006.1%
Proportion of vacant jobs2.8%0.1 ptsna0.8 ptsna
People     
Employed people13,703,700103,4000.8%351,7002.6%
Multiple job holders857,900-10,900-1.3%51,6006.4%
Multiple job holding rate6.3%-0.1 ptsna0.2 ptsna
Hours     
Hours actually worked5,322.5 million-48.2 million-0.9%28.4 million0.5%
Payments     
Average income per employed person$21,195.90$124.700.6%$678.603.3%

All data are shown in seasonally adjusted terms

Data impacts and changes

Accounting for Omicron impacts on hours worked in the March quarter 2022

The combined effects of absences related to the COVID-19 Omicron variant, and a higher than usual number of people taking annual leave in January, resulted in hours worked (as measured in the monthly Labour Force Survey) declining sharply in January. Significant flooding in parts of Queensland and New South Wales in late February and March also resulted in a reduction in hours worked.

To account for the these impacts, an aggregate (downward) adjustment has been applied to Labour Account hours worked estimates for the March quarter 2022. This aggregate adjustment was proportionally distributed across industry divisions, rather than on an individual industry by industry basis, given analysis of longitudinal data from Labour Force Survey did not show any significant differences in the industry distribution of hours worked between January and February as a result of COVID impacts.

The standard approach used to compile Labour Account hours worked series uses movements in Labour Force Survey hours worked between the mid months of the quarter (e.g. November and February). While this approach usually effectively accounts for changes in hours worked in the labour market over time, it cannot specifically account for acute short-term changes, as were seen in January.

This adjustment has ensured that hours worked estimates are appropriately reflective of labour market conditions across the entire March quarter 2022.

Labour themes and navigation on the ABS website changed in March 2022

The thematic groupings and navigation for labour statistics on the ABS website were changed in late March 2022, to improve discoverability and better align labour market concepts with website themes and navigation.

The new themes are:

  • Employment and unemployment
  • Jobs
  • Earnings and working conditions
  • Labour Accounts

As a result, the Labour Account release has moved from the 'Employment and unemployment' theme (abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/) to the new 'Labour Accounts' theme (abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/labour-accounts/).

While the URL for the Labour Account release has changed, there are automatic redirects in place. These redirects will ensure that existing URLs and bookmarks will continue to work.

Jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022:

  • Filled jobs increased by 0.4% following a 3.5% rise in the December quarter 2021. Filled jobs grew by 2.8% through the year.
  • The number of main jobs increased by 68,100 (or 0.5%).
  • The number of multiple job holders decreased by 1.3%.
  • The proportion of vacant jobs increased to 2.8% from the 2.7% recorded in the December quarter 2021.
  • The number of public sector jobs decreased by 0.6%, while the number of private sector jobs increased by 0.5%.

Total jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022, the total number of jobs increased by 82,800 (or 0.6%). This consisted of an increase of 18,700 job vacancies and an increase of 64,200 filled jobs.

Filled jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022, the number of filled jobs increased by 64,200 to 14.6 million. 

Filled jobs, by industry, March quarter 2022, seasonally adjusted
Filled jobs ('000)Quarterly change (%)Annual change (%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)434.7-3.01.2
Mining (B)206.30.610.4
Manufacturing (C)929.91.07.0
Electricity, gas, water and waste services (D)129.25.64.7
Construction (E)1,208.43.57.4
Wholesale trade (F)556.80.8-6.7
Retail trade (G)1,438.6-0.66.0
Accommodation and food services (H)1,209.21.95.4
Transport, postal and warehousing (I)670.41.42.0
Information media and telecommunications (J)184.01.5-2.2
Financial and insurance services (K)463.2-2.8-3.0
Rental, hiring and real estate services (L)297.61.26.0
Professional, scientific and technical services (M)1,210.43.91.3
Administrative and support services (N)1,037.6-1.66.8
Public administration and safety (O)754.1-2.50.6
Education and training (P)1,072.82.81.2
Health care and social assistance (Q)1,986.7-0.9-1.2
Arts and recreation services (R)293.16.614.1
Other services (S)519.9-7.00.7
Total all industries14,603.00.42.8

Main and secondary jobs

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022:

  • Main jobs increased by 68,100 (or 0.5%).
  • Secondary jobs decreased by 3,900 (or 0.4%). 
  • The proportion of secondary jobs to filled jobs was 6.5%, compared to 6.6% 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 994,200 jobs in the March quarter 2022, or 6.8% 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 March quarter 2022:

  • The total number of employed people increased by 0.8% to 13.7 million. 
  • The number of multiple job holders decreased by 1.3%.
  • Unemployed people decreased by 26,600 people to 543,700.

The three industries with the highest number of employed people in the March quarter 2022 were Health care and social assistance, Retail trade and Construction.

Hours

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March quarter 2022, the total number of hours actually worked decreased by 48.2 million hours (or 0.9%) to 5.3 billion hours.

The three industries with the highest number of hours actually worked in the March 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 March quarter 2022:

  • Total labour income increased by $3,888 million (or 1.4%) to $290,463 million. 
  • The average labour income per employed person increased by 0.6% to $21,196.
  • Total compensation of employees increased by 1.6% to $261,455 million.
  • Labour income from self-employment decreased by 1.0% to $29,008 million.
  • Total labour costs increased by $5,425 million (1.8%) to $313,786 million. 

The three industries with the highest total labour income in the March 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.

Methodology

Labour Account Australia methodology, March 2022

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