However, not all industries were experiencing a bounceback to pre-pandemic levels, with construction suffering a decrease in hours worked as did agriculture, forestry and fishing, public administration, and safety.
Surprisingly, more people were working in second jobs in the December quarter to supplement income, the data showed.
The number of hours worked rose 4.3 per cent to 221 million hours following the 4.8 per cent drop in the September quarter that was impacted heavily by lockdowns and the following omicron variant.
“As we have seen throughout the pandemic, the recovery in hours worked was slower than the recovery in jobs, as business activity progressively ramped up during the quarter. While filled jobs in the December quarter were 0.6 per cent higher than June quarter 2021, hours worked were 0.7 per cent lower,” Bjorn Jarvis, head of Labour Statistics at ABS said.
“The December quarter was before the widespread impacts on hours worked associated with the Omicron variant of COVID, which were seen early in January. Labour Force statistics showed an 8.8 per cent fall (seasonally adjusted) in hours worked between December and January, with more people than usual sick or on leave.”
There was a 3.4 per cent rise in jobs filled for the quarter with 472,000 more positions covered, which followed the 2.7 per cent fall in the previous quarter.
The increase in filled jobs in the December quarter was seen in both main jobs (up 374,000, or 2.8 per cent) and secondary jobs (up 99,000, or 11.5 per cent).
“The larger percentage increase in secondary jobs reflected an increase in the number of multiple job-holders over the quarter, which rose by 13.1 per cent to over 850,000 people. The multiple job-holding rate increased by 0.6 percentage points to 6.4 per cent, the highest since the series commenced in 1994,” Mr Jarvis said.
Demand for workers again grew in the December quarter following a fall in the September quarter, with job vacancies increasing by 58,000 (16.8 per cent).
“Job vacancies accounted for 2.7 per cent of all jobs in December quarter 2021. This share is the highest it has been in the three decades of Labour Account data, and well above the start of the pandemic, when it was 1.6 per cent,” Mr Jarvis said.
The rebound in the December quarter was reflected in growth in hours worked across 15 of the 19 industries and growth in filled jobs across 16 of the 19 industries.
As seen earlier in the pandemic, changes in the accommodation and food services industry were the most pronounced, with an increase of 163,000 jobs (16.1 per cent) and 88 million hours (41.1 per cent). This followed large falls in the industry in the September quarter of 150,000 jobs (-12.9 per cent) and 98 million hours (-31.4 per cent).
Construction was the only industry that had a fall in jobs (-1.4 per cent) in the December quarter, following an increase in the September quarter (1.2 per cent). Agriculture, forestry and fishing and public administration and safety were the only industries that saw a decline in hours worked in the December quarter following increases in both industries in the September quarter.
“While most industries saw an increase in hours worked in December 2021, seven of 19 industries were still below their pre-pandemic levels,” Mr Jarvis said.
