The ATO figures reveal that all industries have experienced significant falls in the number of employees covered by the JobKeeper program, with the majority falling by at least half.
By industry, retail trade (down 68 per cent), accommodation and food services (down 52 per cent), education and training (down 50 per cent), wholesale trade (down 71 per cent) and construction (down 48 per cent) all experienced substantial falls.
However, other industries still have a majority of employees still on the JobKeeper payment, including arts and recreation services (down 37 per cent), transport, postal and warehousing (down 36 per cent), and construction (down 48 per cent).
The number of individuals supported by the JobKeeper program stood at 1.54 million in December 2020, down from the 3.6 million recorded in the month of September 2020.
Further, the improvement in the number of individuals and businesses on JobKeeper was consistent across all states, territories, regions and sectors.
JobKeeper by state and territory
Overall, the number of employees graduating from JobKeeper in Australia fell by 56 per cent between the first phase and the second phase.
Every state and territory recorded a decrease of at least 60 per cent in employees receiving JobKeeper from the first phase to the second phase, with the exception of Victoria, which recorded a decrease of 44 per cent.
Western Australia led the way with a 70 per cent decrease in employees receiving JobKeeper payments, followed by the Northern Territory (69 per cent), South Australia (67 per cent), Tasmania (65 per cent), Queensland (64 per cent), the ACT (62 per cent) and NSW (60 per cent).
However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that despite the encouraging figures, he also said he knows that some families and businesses are still doing it tough.
“With 785,000 jobs created in the last seven months, our focus continues to be getting people back into work,” Mr Frydenberg said.
