Western Australia sees biggest monthly increase in payroll jobs
Payroll jobs across Australia rose slightly in the week ending March 15, according to the latest data from the country's statistics bureau.
The latest Payroll Jobs Indexes showed that payroll jobs increased by 0.7% in the month from February 15, 2025]. They also rose 0.2% in the year from March 16, 2024].
By state and territory, Western Australia saw the biggest change in payroll jobs with a 1.4% increase. This was followed by Victoria (0.9%) and then New South Wales (0.8%).
Annually, the Northern Territory saw the biggest change in payroll jobs with an increase of 1.5%, followed by Western Australia (1.4%), and then South Australia (0.9%).
Tasmania and New South Wales, on the other hand, recorded an annual decline in payroll jobs of -0.4% and -0.1%, respectively.
Payroll jobs by industry
By industry, Education and Training saw the biggest monthly increase in payroll jobs with a 5.9% rise, according to the report.
Industries including Retail Trade; Information Media and Telecommunications; Rental, Hiring, and Real Estate Services; as well as Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services saw a decline.
Annually, Healthcare and Social Assistance saw the biggest increase in payroll jobs with 4.4%, followed by Public Administration and Safety.
Industries that saw an annual decrease include Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing; Accommodation and Food Services; Administrative and Support Services; and the Rental, Hiring, and Real Estate Services.
The slight growth in payroll jobs comes as Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in June 2025, with 34,000 more people being unemployed.
The payroll job indexes are sourced from Single Touch Payroll (STP) data. The STP is an initiative to streamline employers' reporting of employees' payroll information to government agencies.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that this is the final release of the Payroll Jobs Indexes, which will be replaced with a new monthly Employee Jobs measure.
The measure is also derived from the STP data, and will be available in the Monthly Employee Earnings Indicator from February 2026.
