Payroll jobs and wages stall

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released Payroll Jobs and Wages data, which suggests both jobs and wages have stalled since the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) began hiking interest rates:

As shown above, the wages index peaked at 114.7 on 2 April and has since fallen 3.2% to 111.1. The payroll jobs index has also fallen marginally from 107.0 on 9 April to 106.8.

Interestingly, two industries stand out for not recovering to pre-pandemic levels. Payroll jobs in Transport, postal and warehousing are 5.4% below mid-March 2020, whereas Manufacturing is 2.5% below mid-June 2022:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.