Coronavirus: Jobs market recovery restarts, ABS data show

The country added 73,000 payroll jobs in two weeks in August as improvements in most states offset further losses in Victoria.

Easing job losses in Victoria helped a lift in the number of payroll jobs over the two weeks to August 22, ABS data show. Picture: Getty Images

The country added 73,000 payroll jobs over the two weeks to August 22 as an improving ­labour market among seven of the eight states and territories was enough to offset further — if easing — employment losses in Victoria.

There were still 447,000 fewer jobs in the Australian Taxation Office’s single-touch payroll system than there were on March 14, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. That was an improvement from the 520,000 deficit recorded a fortnight earlier, as the number of roles lifted by 0.3 per cent.

Nationally, payroll jobs at Aug­ust 22 were 4.2 per cent below mid-March, when Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case, the ABS said.

 

After being slower to reopen following the initial shutdowns in April and May, Victoria has since suffered a second wave of infections that has triggered even more severe restrictions and sent the state’s economic recovery into reverse.

The ABS report showed payroll jobs in Victoria remained 7.9 per cent below the level reported in mid-March, compared with 2.9 per cent for the rest of Australia. Western Australia has almost completed its labour market recovery, with payroll jobs down just 1 per cent from six months earlier, versus falls of around 3 per cent in other states.

Nonetheless, as with business confidence, there were signs of an easing in the downward pressure on jobs and wages through Aug­ust in Victoria following the initial second wave shock.

Victorian payroll job losses decelerated to 0.7 per cent over the two weeks to August 22, versus 1.6 per cent over the fortnight to August 8.

Similarly, there were 2 per cent fewer payroll jobs in the southern state over the month to August 22, versus a 2.8 per cent drop over the same period to Aug­ust 8. There were 1 per cent more payroll jobs nationally over the month.

“Nationally, the construction industry is of concern, with payroll jobs down almost 6 per cent since mid-March, the lowest point since the pandemic began,” ANZ economist Catherine Birch said.

Hospitality and the arts and recreation industries remain the hardest hit by social distancing measures: the number of payroll jobs remained 21 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, below their pre-COVID crisis levels.

The second round of even more severe Victorian restrictions means there are still 38 per cent fewer hospitality roles, and 23 per cent fewer jobs in the arts and recreation sector.

Nationally, not all sectors have shed jobs, with the ABS report showing healthcare, financial services, utilities and public administration have all added roles since mid-March.