Slowdown in COVID-19 job losses

Over the seven weeks from mid-March to early May, total payroll jobs fell by 7.3 per cent, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “The latest data shows a further slowing in the fall in COVID-19 job losses between mid-April and early May.”

“The largest net job losses over the seven weeks of the COVID-19 period, in percentage terms, were in Victoria and New South Wales, where the falls in payroll jobs were around 8.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent.”

“Payroll jobs worked by people under 20 continued to show the largest falls (-14.6 per cent), and were particularly high in some states and territories, such as the Australian Capital Territory (-19.2 per cent).”

In addition to the fall in total jobs slowing, some industries were now showing a reduced impact in the most recent weeks.

“The Accommodation and food services industry had lost around a third of payroll jobs (33.3 per cent) by the week ending 11 April, and a subsequent increase in jobs saw this reduce to around 27.1 per cent by the week ending 2 May,” Mr Jarvis said.

Groups most impacted by changes in payroll jobs between 14 March and 2 May, by state and territory

/ABS Public Release. View in full here.