The ACT has seen the second largest drop in payroll jobs of any state or territory since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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The number of payroll jobs in the territory fell 6.3 per cent between March 14 and June 27, second to Victoria where payroll jobs fell by 6.6 per cent in the same period.
Nationally, payroll jobs recorded a 5.7 per cent decline between March, when Australia's 100th case of coronavirus was recorded, and June.
But wages have not fallen as dramatically in the ACT over the same period, suggesting a greater number of lower-paying jobs have been lost compared to other jurisdictions.
Total wages declined 2.7 per cent between March 14 and June 27, lower than the national drop of 3.2 per cent.
In the last week of June, payroll jobs in the ACT fell by 1.2 per cent, higher than the national drop of 1 per cent, while wages in the territory fell 1.1 per cent in the same period.
This came after a slight increase in payrolls jobs in the ACT between May 23 and May 30, when they rose 0.2 per cent.
The bureau's head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said the jobs index in the ACT had been improving since a low in late April until the first week of June.
"Through the next three weeks of June, things have been coming down from that high. It doesn't seem to be just something we're seeing at the end of the month or the end of the financial year," Mr Jarvis said.
Mr Jarvis said the experimental data could be susceptible to fluctuations around the end of the financial year.
"The ACT jobs index has continued to show more of an impact than a lot of the states and territories. For a lot of the period, Victoria and Tasmania have been the most affected jurisdictions, with the ACT just behind that," he said.
The data also shows significant declines in jobs for young people, with payroll jobs for people under 20 dropping 9.8 per cent in the ACT between March and June, and 9.3 per cent for people aged between 20 and 29.
Accommodation and food service jobs have fallen 23.3 per cent in the ACT between March and June, compared to 21.2 per nationally. Arts industry jobs in the ACT fell by 20.8 per cent, compared to 18.1 per cent nationally in the same period.
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"The fact that wages haven't dropped [across the ACT] as much as they have in other jurisdictions either suggests they're smaller jobs or they're lower paid," Mr Jarvis said.
The data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as part of efforts to track the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and shutdowns, relies on single-touch payroll information from the Australian Taxation Office.
About 99 per cent of medium to large businesses are covered by the single-touch payroll system. About 80 per cent of small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are covered.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
