Filled jobs increased by 0.5 per cent in the March quarter 2021, seasonally adjusted, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: "Filled jobs increased by 73,700 in the March quarter, 56,100 of which were jobs worked by people as a secondary job. This followed stronger growth in main jobs in the December quarter".
| Quarter | Quarterly change in main jobs ('000) | Quarterly change in secondary jobs ('000) |
|---|---|---|
| Mar-2017 | 44.1 | 6.7 |
| Jun-2017 | 92.4 | 43.1 |
| Sep-2017 | 103.9 | 38.3 |
| Dec-2017 | 162.0 | -22.9 |
| Mar-2018 | 5.0 | 38.5 |
| Jun-2018 | 92.3 | 6.7 |
| Sep-2018 | 27.5 | 26.4 |
| Dec-2018 | 174.9 | 44.3 |
| Mar-2019 | 39.6 | -39.0 |
| Jun-2019 | 83.1 | -47.0 |
| Sep-2019 | 52.7 | 35.2 |
| Dec-2019 | 106.3 | 32.8 |
| Mar-2020 | -35.7 | 9.8 |
| Jun-2020 | -716.4 | -198.7 |
| Sep-2020 | 97.1 | 139.6 |
| Dec-2020 | 313.9 | 78.3 |
| Mar-2021 | 17.6 | 56.1 |
The increase in secondary jobs saw the proportion of people working multiple jobs increase over the quarter, from 6.0 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
"Early in the COVID-19 period, secondary jobs fell faster than main jobs, and the rate of multiple jobholding fell from 6.0 per cent in the March quarter 2020 down to 4.9 per cent in the June quarter 2020. That was the lowest it had been since the beginning of the Labour Account data series in 1994," Mr Jarvis said.
"The recent growth in secondary jobs meant that there were around 23,000 more multiple job holders than there were at the start of the pandemic".
The largest increase in secondary jobs was in the Administrative and support services industry, where secondary jobs increased by 49,700 to 310,100. Secondary jobs accounted for 32.2 per cent of filled jobs in this industry, which was higher than March quarter 2020 (26.4%).
Secondary jobs accounted for 7.5 per cent of filled jobs in the March quarter 2021, the highest share of jobs since the beginning of the Labour Account series.
The JobKeeper wage subsidy ended on the 28th of March. Any industry level changes in Labour Account indicators after the end of JobKeeper will be reflected in the release of June quarter 2021 data, on 8 September 2021.
