As a result, the multiple job holding rate decreased to 6.3% (from the series high of 6.4% in December quarter 2021).
Total hours worked in the March quarter 2022 were down 0.9% from December quarter 2021, to 5.3 billion hours.
The industries with the largest decreases were other services (down 8.0%), financial and insurance services (down 6.7%), and wholesale trade (also down 6.7%).
The average hours worked per filled job also declined 1.3%. While average hours fell in most industries, increases were seen in agriculture, forestry and fishing (4.1%), accommodation and food services (1.7%), and transport, postal and warehousing (1.0%).
The industries with the largest increases in filled jobs were arts and recreation services, which rose by 6.6 %, and electricity, gas, water and waste services, which grew by 5.6%. In contrast, there were decreases of 7.0% in other services, and 3.0% in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
The largest growth in job vacancies over the quarter was in wholesale trade (up 28.0 %), other services (26.7%) and public administration and safety (22.7%), while information media and technology recorded the largest decrease (down 11.9%).
“While 2.8% of jobs were vacant across the whole economy, 4.8% of mining jobs were vacant (up from 3.3% two years earlier) and 3.8% of financial and insurance services jobs were vacant (up from 2.5% pre-pandemic),” Mr Jarvis said.
"Job vacancies were higher than pre-pandemic levels in all industries. This ranged between arts and recreation services (219% higher than March quarter 2020) and information media and telecommunications (30% higher)."