The Australian Bureau of Statistics.......>

AUSTRALIA: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released new

statistics on jobs and wages based on Single Touch Payroll data from the

Australian Taxation Office. "The estimates in Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in

Australia provide additional information on the economic impact of COVID-19 and

complement monthly Labour Force statistics. The new data showed that between 14

March and 4 April (the three weeks after Australia recorded its 100th confirmed

COVID-19 case) jobs decreased by 6.0%. Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS,

Bjorn Jarvis, said: "The largest impact of net job losses, in percentage terms,

was for people aged under 20, for whom jobs decreased by 9.9%. "Tasmania and

Victoria had the largest decreases in jobs, down by 7.3% and 6.8%. "The

Accommodation and food services industry saw the largest reduction in jobs

(decreasing by 25.6%), followed by the Arts and recreation services industry

(decreasing by 18.7%)." Total wages paid by businesses decreased by 6.7% over

the period."