Payroll jobs across Australia over the 12 months to mid-August 2023, rose 2.9%, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said, “This was less than the annual growth rates seen earlier in 2023, and also below the 8.3% annual growth to mid-August 2022, which included the strong recovery in payroll jobs after the Covid-19 Delta period in 2021.”

Payroll jobs remained relatively steady (down 0.1%) in the month to 12 August 2023, following a 0.3% monthly fall in the previous month.

Jarvis said, “Payroll jobs remained steady into August. Most industries saw small payroll job losses in this period, which were offset by a seasonal rise in education and training as students returned from their winter holidays.”

The ABS added that some of the apparent weakness in the latest data reflects reporting patterns that are seen around the change in financial years. The interpretation of change in payroll jobs early in the financial year can be more challenging, until business reporting is more complete.

In the month to mid-August 2023, payroll jobs fell slightly in five of eight jurisdictions, with the largest falls in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania (all falling 0.3 per cent).

“Seasonal change in the education and training industry after the winter holidays was the largest source of growth in payroll jobs across all states and territories,” Jarvis said. “This underpinned the 0.6% payroll jobs rise in Western Australia and 0.4% payroll jobs rise in the Northern Territory in the month to mid-August 2023.”

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.