Three industries accounted for most of the overall increase
Payroll jobs in Australia rose by 0.1% in the month to June 15, following a 0.4% increase in the previous month, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis (pictured above), ABS head of labour statistics, noted that the smaller growth in payroll jobs was consistent with the trend observed last year post-Easter and the autumn school holidays.
“We continue to see slower annual growth in payroll jobs through 2023-24, falling from above 3% early in the financial year to around 1.6% by mid-June,” Jarvis said. “This slowing growth mirrors other labour market indicators, following particularly strong growth during 2022-23.”
Over the past month, payroll jobs increased in six of 19 industries. The main contributors to the rise were health care and social assistance, education and training, and public administration and safety. These three industries, which represent about a third of the total payroll jobs in Australia, accounted for 95% of the overall increase.
The ABS payroll jobs data revealed a 1.1% rise in health care and social assistance, which contributed around 50% of the total increase. Education and training grew by 1.4%, and public administration and safety by 0.6%, together making up a further 45% of the total rise.
These gains were, however, offset by declines in 12 industries, with the largest decreases in accommodation and food services (-1.3%), agriculture, forestry and fishing (-1.1%), and construction (-0.9%).
Payroll jobs rose in four of the eight states and territories, with the Northern Territory (+0.9%) and the Australian Capital Territory (+0.5%) seeing the largest increases. Queensland (+0.4%) and Western Australia (+0.1%) accounted for 81% of the total national rise in payroll jobs, while other states remained steady.
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