The Australian economy added 100,000 payroll jobs in two weeks to November 28

Latest payroll figures offer an optimistic picture of a continuing, if still incomplete, labour market recovery from the COVID-19 recession.

The latest payroll figures for the week to November 28 offer an optimistic picture of a continuing, if still incomplete, labour market recovery from the COVID-19 recession. Picture: Getty Images

Businesses took back on 100,000 employees over the two weeks to November 28, further evidence that the powerful post-COVID economic and associated labour market recovery has extended through to the end of the year.

Weekly payrolls figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of workers paid through the Taxation Office’s one-touch payroll system lifted by 0.4 per cent between mid and late November, against a 0.3 per cent rise over the previous two weeks.

Total wages paid increased by a solid 0.7 per cent, versus a gain of 0.1 per cent in the previous fortnight.

New South Wales led the national increase in payroll jobs over the two weeks to late November with a 0.6 per cent gain, while Victoria rose by 0.4 per cent. Queensland jobs were flat, while Tasmania outperformed, growing jobs by 1.1 per cent over the fortnight.

Labour force statistics for November will be released on Thursday, and are expected to show an 40,000 lift in employment in the month, leaving the unemployment rate steady at 7 per cent, according to consensus economist forecasts.

The ABS payroll stats, and the still elevated official unemployment rate, showed that while the recovery is well underway, it remains incomplete.

ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said the country had now regained three in four jobs lost over the month to mid-April – when national restrictions shuttered entire industries and sparked massive job losses.

That left an estimated 220,000, or 2 per cent, fewer payroll jobs than before the pandemic, versus a 320,000 deficit a fortnight earlier. Total wages remained 2.6 per cent down, the ABS figures showed.

In Victoria, which suffered through a devastating second wave of virus cases, there remained 4.3 per cent fewer employees in late November than in March, with around 1.6 per cent fewer in NSW and Queensland. In contrast, there were 0.7 per cent more payroll jobs in Western Australia than pre-crisis, and 0.5 per cent more in the Northern Territory, the ABS figures showed.

The latest payrolls number also confirmed that while women were hardest hit early in the COVID-19 recession – losing close to 10 per cent of jobs by April 18 versus mens’ 6.5 per cent fall – male workers have now suffered the biggest hit to employment.

Male payroll jobs remained 3.8 per cent below pre-pandemic levels by late November, versus a 2.2 per cent deficit for females. Total wages paid to women employees are now just shy of mid-March levels, while men’s wages remained 4.9 per cent lower.