The number of hours Australians worked for the March quarter increased by 43.1 million hours to 5.4 billion hours worked as a country.

This led to the labour bill increasing by $3,113 million, resulting in the average labour income per employed person rising to $18,998.

Filled jobs in the Australian economy increased slightly, resulting in 14.2 million people in the workforce after seasonal adjustment. This is a 31,500 increase in jobs nationally.

The job increase came from 69,600 new main jobs being filled, while secondary jobs decreased by 38,200.

Bruce Hockman, chief economist at the ABS, believes the job market is slowing, which is a reflection of the economy at large.

“This slowing growth in jobs echoes the weaker growth in employment that we have been observing since September 2018,” Mr Hockman said.

“The change in filled jobs partly reflected a drop in secondary jobs for the first time in over a year, down by 3.8 per cent in the quarter,” said Mr Hockman. “In contrast, jobs worked as a main job increased in the quarter, up by 0.5 per cent.”

“Overall, growth in filled jobs has been generally trending down since the recent high in mid-2017, when the quarterly growth was around 1 per cent,” Mr Hockman said.

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About the author

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

About the author

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

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