Regional Tasmania and Hobart both made handy but not massive jobs gains in early January.
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Payroll jobs statewide increased by 1.5 per cent in the fortnight to January 15, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated.
That was beaten only by Queensland (2.1 per cent) , while national payroll jobs grew by 1 per cent.
The ABS estimated payroll jobs increased by 1.1 per cent in Greater Hobart and 1.3 per cent in the rest of Tasmania during the fortnight, which was the second two-week period after state borders reopened as coronavirus-related restrictions eased.
Nationally, only three of the 19 industry sectors were paying less in payroll wages in mid-January than on January 16 last year.
They included accommodation and food services (down by 4.7 per cent) and "other services" (down by 0.5 per cent).
Construction payrolls were down marginally by 0.1 per cent.
The strongest jobs growth nationally between December 19, 2020, and December 18, 2021, came from small business, which increased payroll employment by 7.9 per cent, and big business (3.2 per cent).
Medium-sized businesses - with between 20 and 199 employees - increased payroll numbers by 0.6 per cent.
The ABS said the 1 per cent national growth in payroll jobs in the fortnight to January 15 followed a 6.8 per cent fall in the last fortnight of December.
"Similar to last year, payroll jobs fell to a seasonal low point at the end of December before increasing in January," ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.
"However, the week-to-week changes over the period showed a slower pickup in January than last year.
"This slower increase in payroll jobs in 2022 likely reflects a range of factors, including some businesses and employees delaying their return from Christmas and New Year holidays, early impacts on businesses and employees from Omicron infections and related disruption, and weather events in some regions.
"This delay meant that, while payroll jobs fell by a similar amount in the last two weeks of December (6.4 per cent in 2020 and 6.8 per cent in 2021), the increase in the first two weeks of January was slower in 2022 (1 per cent) compared to a year ago (3.7 per cent)."
Of all the greater capital city areas and "rest ofs", only the regional parts of the Northern Territory went backwards on payroll jobs during the fortnight.