Australia shed 146,300 jobs in August compared to July amid Covid lockdowns to a total of 13.0 million jobs, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.

The data covered the first two weeks of August, which included the continued lockdown in New South Wales; new lockdowns in Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory; and a series of changes in restrictions in other parts of the country, said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.

“Labour market changes in New South Wales continued to have a large influence on the national employment and hours worked figures,” Jarvis said. “In August, there were big falls in New South Wales in both employment (-173,000) and hours worked (-6.5%).”

Jarvis noted employment in New South Wales is down by 210,000 people since the beginning of its lockdown in late June.

Monthly hours worked also fell 66 million in August compared to July, a decrease of 3.7%.

Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5% in August from 4.6% in July, but Jarvis attributed that to a large fall in participation during recent lockdowns rather than a strengthening of labour market conditions.

“Throughout the pandemic we have seen large falls in participation during lockdowns — a pattern repeated over the past few months,” Jarvis said. “Beyond people losing their jobs, we have seen unemployed people drop out of the labour force, given how difficult it is to actively look for work and be available for work during lockdowns. This has also coincided with a temporary pause in mutual obligations for jobseekers living in lockdown areas.”