Small rise in payroll jobs, boosted by Education jobs

Media Release
Released
11/04/2024

Payroll jobs rose 0.4 per cent in the month to mid-March 2024, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “The smaller increase in payroll jobs over the month to mid-March followed the larger seasonal rise of 2.1 per cent to mid-February, as people returned to work from the summer holidays.

“Like last month, payroll jobs in Education and training underpinned the monthly growth to mid-March. Jobs in this industry accounted for around half of the small monthly rise, broadly in line with what we’ve seen in previous years.   

Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.

Mid-Mar represents the week ending 20 March 2021, 19 March 2022, 18 March 2023 and 16 March 2024. 

Mid-Jun represents the week ending 19 June 2021, 18 June 2022, and 17 June 2023.

Mid-Sep represents the week ending 26 September 2020, 25 September 2021, 24 September 2022 and 23 September 2023.

Mid-Dec represents the week ending 19 December 2020, 18 December 2021, 17 December 2022 and 16 December 2023.

“While there was an increase in payroll jobs this month, this growth was slightly less than what we saw this time last year. It was also still generally trending lower in 2023-24 than through 2022-23. 

“However, it’s also important to remember that growth was relatively high during 2022-23, which we saw in payroll jobs data and other ABS labour market statistics,” said Mr Jarvis.  

Indexed to the week ending 14 March 2020.

Mid-Sep represents the week ending 26 September 2020, 25 September 2021, 24 September 2022 and 23 September 2023.

Mid-Dec represents the week ending 19 December 2020, 18 December 2021, 17 December 2022 and 16 December 2023.

Mid-Mar represents the week ending 20 March 2021, 19 March 2022, 18 March 2023 and 16 March 2024. 

Mid-Jun represents the week ending 19 June 2021, 18 June 2022, and 17 June 2023.

Payroll jobs rose in all states and territories

Payroll jobs rose in all states and territories between mid-February and mid-March, with the largest index rises seen in Northern Territory (1.3 per cent), Australian Capital Territory (0.8 per cent), Victoria (0.5 per cent) and Tasmania (0.5 per cent).

While some of the smallest jurisdictions saw the fastest growth, the largest shares of the national increase continued to be in the most populous states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Together they accounted for around three-quarters (76 per cent) of the total rise in payroll jobs over the month. 

Over the past year, payroll jobs rose in all states and territories, ranging between the Northern Territory (4.0 per cent) and New South Wales (0.8 per cent). 

“The annual growth in payroll jobs across the states and territories was underpinned by strong growth in Health care and social assistance jobs. This industry was the strongest contributor to jobs growth in each jurisdiction, except for the Australian Capital Territory, where it was Public administration and safety,” Mr Jarvis said.

Media notes

  • Payroll jobs are not seasonally adjusted, which generally requires at least three years of reasonably stable data. The longstanding seasonally adjusted Labour Force statistics series can aid in the interpretation of labour statistics across periods of greater seasonality, including through the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Payroll jobs are predominantly employee jobs paid through payrolls. Some industries, such as Agriculture, forestry and fishing and Construction have high proportions of owner managers who are not included in payroll reporting. See the Scope and coverage section in the Methodology of this release for more information.
  • In each release, payroll job estimates are revised as more complete data are received. The magnitude of revisions can vary at some points of the year, such as the start and end of the financial and calendar year in line with changes in the reporting activity of businesses. 
  • The ABS acknowledges the continued support of the ATO in enabling the ABS to produce weekly insights into the Australian labour market from Single Touch Payroll data.
  • 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).
  • Access official, high-resolution images of ABS media spokespeople, including Bjorn Jarvis, from our image library.
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.
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