One third of Accommodation & food services jobs lost

The Accommodation and food services industry continued to be the most impacted by COVID-19, with a drop of around one in three paid jobs in the industry from mid-March to mid-April, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

The Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia estimates also showed that between 14 March and 18 April (the five weeks after Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) total employee jobs decreased by 7.5%, while total wages paid by employers decreased by 8.2%.

Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “The industries which lost the most jobs continued to be Accommodation and food services (-33.4%) and Arts and recreation services (-27.0%).

“Job losses in Accommodation and food services were greatest in South Australia (-39.7%) and Victoria (-35.6%).

“The new data shows that jobs in Accommodation and food services worked by people aged 20-29 and people over 70 decreased the most (-40.8% and -43.7%).”

Changes in Accommodation and food services industry jobs between 14 March and 18 April, by state and territory

/ABS Public Release. View in full here.