CoreLogic’s research analyst, Eliza Owen, has examined the latest available employment data, which she believes points to difficulties for Australia’s housing market:
On April 7th, the ABS released new survey results on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses. Approximately 1,200 business representatives responded, revealing changes that had been made to the workforce. Of the actively trading businesses surveyed, about a quarter reported reducing staff hours over the past few weeks. A summary of businesses reporting reduced staff hours by size and industry is presented below. Further insights from the survey can be found here.
Reduced staff working hours is an early response businesses typically adopt during a downturn, with a view to preserving jobs. Food and accommodation is more precarious for both housing and employment When governments rolled out international travel restrictions, closed state borders and banned unnecessary travel as well as closing pubs, restaurants and casinos along with a variety of other facilities it was clear that the tourism and hospitality sectors would be some of the hardest-hit sectors. However, it is still striking that 70% of food and accommodation employers reported a reduction in staff hours. Food and accommodation employs about 8% of the workforce, or about 1.2 million people. This is where a more granular view of employment data can highlight risks to the property market. The detailed quarterly survey data provides insight into what industry residents work in, at the SA4 level. The February edition suggests that most food and accommodation workers are highly concentrated in Sydney’s Inner West, followed by the Sunshine Coast and the Coffs Harbour-Grafton region.
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
