By Shane Wright
A record number of young Australians are working more than one part-time job to make ends meet as signs emerge the overall jobs market is starting to soften under the weight of the Reserve Bank’s efforts to bring down inflation.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the number of people with multiple jobs eased through the first three months of this year, while the proportion of workers getting more than one pay cheque has dropped to a three-year low.
Women in the health sector are among those most likely to hold down more than one job.Credit: iStock
The number of Australians with more than one job soared in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Between the end of 2019 and December last year, an extra 220,000 people took on at least one additional job, a near-29 per cent increase.
The end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy program, a shortage of workers for many industries, and the surge in inflation, combined to encourage people to take on a sideline job to supplement their income.
The ABS figures revealed that after peaking at 990,000 at the end of the last year, the number of multiple-job holders eased to 963,000.
Almost all of that decline was due to people with a full-time job leaving a part-time gig.
But among those in part-time work, the number taking on an extra part-time job lifted. There are now a record 490,200 people with at least two part-time jobs, a 6 per cent increase over the past 12 months.
Those part-time jobs are being held down by women at record levels and by people under the age of 24. In 1996, 18.2 per cent of people with multiple jobs were those aged under 24. That proportion has now climbed to 21.8 per cent, while the share of middle-aged Australians with more than one job has eased.
In a further sign the jobs market may be softening, the bureau’s measure of the entire labour market is starting to ease.
The entire labour market, which includes people in work, those with multiple jobs and vacant positions, went backwards during the March quarter.
Total jobs eased by 0.2 per cent, the number of filed jobs declined by 0.1 per cent, secondary jobs dropped by 4.2 per cent, while the proportion of vacant jobs fell by 2 per cent.
The labour market shed 25,000 positions during the quarter, including 14,000 vacancies and 11,000 filled jobs. It was the first time, outside the pandemic, that the jobs market went backwards since 2016.
Part of the fall was due to a large drop in staff in the health sector in the quarter. Despite losing 11,000 positions in the quarter, the health sector has added more than 109,000 positions over the past 12 months.
The construction sector is also continuing to add staff, with a record 1.2 million people holding positions in building, but jobs went backwards in most other sectors.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the figures also confirmed employment in the government-supported sector had also fallen.
“This worrying jobs data serves as a warning regarding the urgent need to improve private sector economic performance,” he said.
“First, it shows that the private sector engine of our economy simply isn’t firing. When read alongside the weak GDP data released this week, it augurs poorly for a genuine economic recovery in 2025.
“Second, it shows the risk in relying on government spending to indefinitely prop up a sluggish economy. As soon as spending growth tapers – as fiscal sustainability dictates it eventually must – underlying private sector weakness is revealed.”
Figures last week revealed the Australian economy expanded by just 0.2 per cent through the first three months of the year, with annual growth at a modest 1.3 per cent.
Despite the sluggish economy, unemployment has remained steady at 4.1 per cent over the past year, while the total number in work has climbed by almost 360,000.
The tight jobs market has been one of the reasons the Reserve Bank has been concerned about the impact of much lower interest rates, with fears that looser monetary policy could feed into higher inflation.
Minutes of the bank’s May meeting, at which it cut the cash rate to 3.85 per cent, noted RBA staff believed there was still some “tightness” in the labour market. The decision and comments pre-date the Bureau of Statistics data.
Willox said the jobs market could soon start to deteriorate.
“The labour market has been one of the few bright spots in our economy in the past 12 months. Output, investment and productivity are already listing, and we cannot afford to let employment go the same way,” he said.
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