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.
| 2020 (pts) | 2021 (pts) | 2022 (pts) | 2023 (pts) | 2024 (pts) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83.0 | 86.1 | 88.1 | 91.4 | 97.9 | |
| 83.1 | 84.7 | 86.2 | 88.0 | 94.6 | |
| 83.0 | 85.6 | 85.9 | 87.8 | 94.4 | |
| 85.2 | 87.4 | 87.5 | 89.9 | 96.3 | |
| 88.6 | 89.9 | 90.1 | 93.6 | 98.3 | |
| 92.0 | 93.7 | 93.9 | 97.6 | 103.3 | |
| 94.5 | 96.0 | 96.3 | 99.7 | 106.5 | |
| 96.2 | 97.8 | 97.7 | 102.0 | 108.1 | |
| 97.4 | 99.4 | 99.0 | 104.1 | 109.3 | |
| 99.2 | 101.3 | 101.3 | 105.6 | 111.0 | |
| 100.0 | 102.3 | 102.3 | 106.2 | 111.9 | |
| mid-Mar | 100.2 | 102.9 | 103.0 | 106.6 | 112.2 |
| 98.4 | 103.0 | 103.4 | 106.7 | ||
| 95.4 | 102.3 | 103.5 | 107.0 | ||
| 92.3 | 100.4 | 103.1 | 106.4 | ||
| 90.4 | 97.8 | 100.5 | 103.5 | ||
| 90.3 | 98.5 | 98.6 | 102.2 | ||
| 91.4 | 101.2 | 100.3 | 104.1 | ||
| 93.1 | 102.7 | 103.3 | 106.4 | ||
| 95.2 | 103.2 | 104.8 | 108.3 | ||
| 95.6 | 103.4 | 104.7 | 108.7 | ||
| 95.8 | 103.5 | 104.7 | 109.0 | ||
| 96.3 | 103.3 | 104.8 | 109.0 | ||
| 95.9 | 102.7 | 104.6 | 108.8 | ||
| mid-June | 96.3 | 103.0 | 104.8 | 108.8 | |
| 96.8 | 102.9 | 104.9 | 109.0 | ||
| 96.4 | 101.2 | 104.4 | 108.0 | ||
| 94.5 | 98.3 | 103.2 | 105.5 | ||
| 92.9 | 97.0 | 101.6 | 103.6 | ||
| 95.0 | 98.5 | 102.4 | 104.1 | ||
| 96.6 | 99.9 | 104.5 | 106.4 | ||
| 97.2 | 100.6 | 105.6 | 108.0 | ||
| 97.6 | 100.9 | 106.1 | 108.7 | ||
| 97.8 | 100.1 | 106.9 | 109.7 | ||
| 98.6 | 100.1 | 107.4 | 109.9 | ||
| 99.1 | 99.9 | 107.2 | 109.7 | ||
| 99.4 | 100.3 | 107.3 | 109.9 | ||
| 99.8 | 100.0 | 107.6 | 109.7 | ||
| mid-Sep | 99.1 | 98.5 | 106.1 | 108.9 | |
| 96.3 | 97.1 | 104.1 | 105.6 | ||
| 95.1 | 95.7 | 103.7 | 104.8 | ||
| 98.0 | 98.1 | 105.2 | 107.6 | ||
| 99.8 | 101.3 | 107.0 | 109.6 | ||
| 100.6 | 102.3 | 108.1 | 109.7 | ||
| 100.8 | 102.8 | 108.2 | 110.5 | ||
| 101.2 | 103.0 | 107.9 | 111.1 | ||
| 101.9 | 103.5 | 107.7 | 111.3 | ||
| 102.7 | 104.9 | 109.0 | 111.5 | ||
| 101.4 | 104.3 | 108.8 | 110.7 | ||
| 99.6 | 101.6 | 107.3 | 109.3 | ||
| mid-Dec | 96.5 | 97.7 | 105.2 | 105.6 | |
| 90.1 | 91.5 | 97.9 | 100.8 |
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.
| 2020-21 (pts) | 2021-22 (pts) | 2022-23 (pts) | 2023-24 (pts) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97.5 | 103.6 | 110.1 | 114.0 | |
| 98.6 | 104.4 | 111.1 | 114.6 | |
| 98.7 | 104.1 | 111.1 | 114.5 | |
| 98.9 | 102.9 | 111.1 | 114.7 | |
| 99.1 | 103.1 | 111.6 | 114.9 | |
| 99.2 | 102.9 | 111.7 | 115.0 | |
| 99.1 | 102.8 | 112.0 | 115.3 | |
| 99.2 | 102.1 | 112.2 | 115.5 | |
| 99.3 | 101.6 | 112.4 | 115.6 | |
| 99.6 | 101.7 | 112.3 | 115.3 | |
| 100.0 | 102.3 | 112.6 | 115.4 | |
| 100.2 | 102.7 | 112.6 | 115.6 | |
| mid-Sep | 100.0 | 102.5 | 112.2 | 115.5 |
| 99.3 | 102.2 | 111.8 | 115.0 | |
| 99.5 | 102.6 | 112.0 | 115.0 | |
| 100.4 | 104.3 | 112.6 | 115.9 | |
| 100.7 | 105.5 | 113.0 | 116.2 | |
| 100.9 | 106.4 | 113.1 | 115.7 | |
| 101.3 | 106.9 | 113.3 | 115.8 | |
| 102.1 | 107.4 | 113.7 | 116.0 | |
| 102.4 | 107.9 | 114.1 | 116.2 | |
| 102.8 | 108.2 | 114.3 | 116.3 | |
| 103.3 | 108.7 | 114.6 | 116.2 | |
| 103.4 | 108.5 | 114.4 | 116.1 | |
| mid-Dec | 102.6 | 107.7 | 113.7 | 115.4 |
| 98.8 | 104.0 | 110.4 | 113.7 | |
| 96.1 | 99.9 | 105.7 | 109.3 | |
| 97.4 | 100.5 | 106.1 | 109.2 | |
| 99.5 | 102.8 | 108.5 | 111.3 | |
| 100.5 | 104.2 | 109.9 | 112.8 | |
| 101.1 | 105.0 | 110.6 | 113.4 | |
| 101.6 | 105.5 | 111.5 | 114.1 | |
| 102.3 | 106.1 | 112.1 | 114.8 | |
| 102.6 | 105.9 | 112.6 | 115.1 | |
| 103.1 | 105.8 | 113.1 | 115.3 | |
| 103.3 | 106.1 | 113.5 | 115.5 | |
| 103.7 | 107.1 | 113.7 | 115.6 | |
| mid-Mar | 103.8 | 107.5 | 113.8 | 115.6 |
| 103.7 | 107.6 | 114.0 | ||
| 102.8 | 107.3 | 113.8 | ||
| 102.5 | 107.5 | 113.1 | ||
| 102.7 | 106.9 | 112.9 | ||
| 103.0 | 106.5 | 113.3 | ||
| 103.3 | 107.1 | 113.6 | ||
| 103.7 | 107.6 | 113.9 | ||
| 104.0 | 107.9 | 114.3 | ||
| 104.2 | 108.2 | 114.4 | ||
| 103.9 | 108.4 | 114.4 | ||
| 103.5 | 108.3 | 114.4 | ||
| 103.7 | 108.7 | 114.4 | ||
| mid-Jun | 103.8 | 109.2 | 114.7 | |
| 103.5 | 109.7 | 114.5 |
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 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.
