Total jobs in Australia fell by 2.7% in the quarter ended 30 September compared to the quarter ended 30 June, according to seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The number of filled jobs — jobs with an employed person in them — fell 2.6%.

“The fall in filled jobs in the September quarter was driven by large decreases in the ‘accommodation and food services’ and retail trade industries,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS. “These industries are both large employers — together accounting for around 18% of all filled jobs before the pandemic — and they contributed over half (53%) of the fall in filled jobs in the September quarter.”

Jarvis said the effects of the delta variant were more concentrated in Australia’s “accommodations and food services” and retail trade than early in the pandemic. Last year in the quarter ended 30 June 2020, only 19% of the fall in filled jobs was in accommodation and food services. Retail trade jobs increased in the June 2020 quarter.

Meanwhile, hours worked fell by 4.7% sequentially in the September quarter and were 3.6% below their pre-pandemic level.

Job vacancies in Australia fell by 7.4% sequentially in the September quarter.