Payroll jobs fell 0.8% in the month to 13 August 2022, following a 0.6% fall in the month to 16 July 2022, according to research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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.

Lauren Ford, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said, “Payroll jobs continued to fall into August, down from the recent peak at the end of June. The slightly lower number of payroll jobs continued to reflect the ongoing impacts of short-term employee absences from Covid-19 and other illnesses during winter, within a tight labour market.”

The Bureau noted that payroll jobs can show slower growth and larger short-term changes than Labour Force statistics on employment, given employees without paid leave entitlements may be away from work for a short period without losing their job, particularly during holiday periods or when they are sick. It is also difficult to interpret changes in payroll jobs and wages around the end of the financial year, because employers' reporting patterns change around this time.

Payroll jobs fell in most states and territories in the month to mid-August 2022, with the largest falls in Victoria and New South Wales (both down 1.0%).

Western Australia and the Northern Territory were the only jurisdictions without a fall in payroll jobs over the month (both unchanged), which was largely due to rises in the Education and training industry (as school resumed) offsetting payroll job falls in other industries.

In the month to mid-August 2022, payroll jobs fell in all industries except for education and training, which rose 2.3%

The  construction and professional industry represented 18.2% of the share of payroll jobs losses in the month to mid-August 2022, the highest among industries

Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.4% in July 2022, down 1.3% compared to the same period last year.