Nearly 12,000 NT jobs lost in the five weeks since lockdown began, new data reveals

NEARLY 12,000 jobs have been lost in the Northern Territory since strict lockdown measures were imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, new official figures have revealed.

NEARLY 12,000 jobs have been lost in the Northern Territory since strict lockdown measures were imposed to limit the spread of coronavirus, new official figures have revealed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics, analysing single touch payroll data source from the Australian Taxation Office, found the number of jobs in the NT slumped by 5.7 per cent.

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There were 135,400 people employed in about 200,000 jobs in the NT just before the pandemic hit, meaning an estimated 11,400 jobs were lost between March 14 and April 18, the date Australia recorded its 100th confirmed case of coronavirus.

The Northern Territory faired better, on average, than other jurisdictions. The number of jobs in Australia fell by 7.5 per cent in just over a month.

Workers in accommodation and food services were hit the hardest, shedding a third of all paid jobs.

A total of 6700 people were employed in this industry in the NT in February 2020, according to ABS data, meaning an estimated 2000 NT accommodation and food services employees may have lost their jobs in the last five weeks.

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

“Looking at the week-to-week changes, the decrease in the number of jobs in the week ending 18 April was 1.5%, which was larger than the 0.3% decrease in week ending 11 April 2020,” he said.