The Australian Bureau of Statistics is collating and distributing more frequent economic data to provide additional information on the economic impact of COVID-19.

Data on employment based on Single Touch Payroll data from the Australian Taxation Office.

  • between 14 March and 4 April (the three weeks after Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) jobs decreased by 6.0%
  • "The largest impact of net job losses, in percentage terms, was for people aged under 20, for whom jobs decreased by 9.9%."
  • "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.

That sucks. These sorts of indications of economic health are going to be duplicated right around the globe. Not good.