On March 17, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated the number of employed Tasmanians increased by 6200 to 265,600 between January and February in seasonally adjusted terms.

However, new figures for payroll jobs covering a more recent period suggest a negative turnaround.

The payroll jobs figures for the four weeks to March 12 estimated 0.9 per cent of those jobs vanished in that time, including a 0.3 per cent decrease in the second fortnight.

Tasmania was not alone, with payroll jobs in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia also decreasing during the four weeks.

The national drop was 0.6 per cent, although things picked up in the second fortnight, with a 0.2 per cent increase.

The ABS estimated Tasmanian payroll jobs increased by 1.8 per cent in the year since March 13, 2021.

That was well ahead of annual national growth of 0.3 per cent and beaten only by Western Australia and the territories.

The ABS said the 0.8 per cent national drop in the second half of February, followed by a 0.2 per cent increase in the next fortnight coincided with bad weather and flooding in New South Wales and Queensland, the continued influence of the Omicron coronavirus variant and the easing of pandemic restrictions.

"Given the disruption to business operations from the weather and Omicron infections, the increase in payroll jobs in early 2022 continued to be weaker than in both 2020 and 2021, particularly over the last month," ABS head of labour statistics Bjorn Jarvis said.

"Over three quarters of national payroll job losses in the month to mid-March were in New South Wales and Queensland.

"This was greater than their total share of payroll jobs, which is usually around half of all jobs in Australia."

Tasmanian total payroll wages were unchanged in the fortnight to March 12, after sliding by 0.6 per cent in the previous fortnight.

They were up by 5.7 per cent compared with a year earlier.

The ABS said the accommodation and food services sector continued to be the most affected by "Omicron-related disruption".

Payroll jobs in the industry were more than 5 per cent lower in mid-March than at the start of the pandemic in early 2020 in every jurisdiction except the Northern Territory.