Payroll jobs in Australia increased by 2.2% in the year since 12 November 2022, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In the month to 11 November 2023, payroll jobs decreased by 0.2%.

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said, “The number of payroll jobs has remained relatively steady over the past couple of months, with the recent monthly fall of 0.2% offsetting the similar sized rise in the month before.” 

“In line with the smaller monthly changes in payroll jobs in recent months, annual growth has also slowed from what we saw earlier in 2023, when it was particularly strong,” Jarvis added.

The fall in payroll jobs between mid-October and mid-November reflected a high number of temporary jobs in the public administration and safety industry finishing after the October referendum. By mid-November, payroll jobs in the industry had returned closer to their pre-referendum level.

“The high number of temporary jobs related to the referendum had a visible effect on the labour market over the past couple of months, contributing to the increase into mid-October and fall into mid-November," Jarvis said. "If the influence of these temporary jobs around the referendum was removed, the total number of payroll jobs would have increased over the past month, by around 0.3%.”

“In contrast to the public administration and safety industry, which is usually relatively stable and has a low degree of seasonal change, the education and training industry showed the usual seasonal increase in jobs following the spring holidays,” Jarvis said. “The recovery in payroll jobs in the education and training industry after the spring holidays, an increase of around 3.0%, was similar to what was seen last year. It accounted for around half of the underlying increases in payroll jobs.”

Among industries, in the month to 11 November 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were seen in public administration and safety, down 6.7%; and education and training, up 3.0%.

On an annual basis, mining recorded an increase of 7.4% over the year. Agriculture, forestry and fishing saw the biggest decrease at 6.8%.

Among states, in the month to 11 November 2023, the largest changes in payroll jobs were seen in Western Australia, up 0.5%; and Victoria and Queensland, down 0.4% each.

Over the year the biggest increase was seen in the Northern Territory (4.6%).