Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation (NERO)

The Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation or NERO is a experimental dataset providing information on employment in 355 occupations across 88 regions in Australia. Previously this type of data was only readily available every five years as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing. With NERO these insights can be produced on a monthly basis.

NERO has been developed using an emerging methodology called nowcasting using traditional, real-time and big data techniques - including machine learning - to estimate trends within a short timeframe after the data is available, more frequently and with increased detail.

NERO can be searched either by occupation or by region, and the data can be downloaded in a variety of ways. 

Releases from 5 April 2023 will be in the new edition of NERO. See the NERO methodology page for more information about NERO version 2. 

Data will be updated monthly with planned release dates:

The NERO series provides estimates of occupational employment by region that was previously only readily available every five years from the ABS Census of Population and Housing. As an experimental series, the NERO estimates have been smoothed to provide an indication of long term trends in local labour markets. As a result of this smoothing process, these estimates may not capture short term dynamics in the labour market, such as the considerable impacts of lockdowns recently experienced by many regions across Australia. Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) is exploring other approaches to better reflect short-term dynamics in its NERO experimental estimates. JSA encourages users to utilise a combination of data sources alongside JSA to analyse current labour market trends. JSA continues to welcome feedback on NERO.

NERO estimates are experimental in nature, and it is anticipated that the estimates may be revised in 2022. Users will be advised once any revisions to the methodology are completed. Feedback is welcomed, including suggestions for how the estimates could be improved.

If you give feedback about NERO, you give without charge, the right to use, share and commercialise your feedback, in any way and for any purpose (and including the right to allow others to do this). You agree not to give feedback that requires us to license NERO, or any other product or document, to third parties because we include your feedback in them. These rights are perpetual. A copy of the Privacy Policy can be obtained by emailing Privacy@jobsandskills.gov.au.

NERO is a product of Jobs and Skills Australia, within the Commonwealth of Australia. With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, JSA's logo, any images or photographs, any material protected by a trade mark and where otherwise noted, the content of NERO is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, CC BY 4.0 licence. Please note that this CC BY licence includes a disclaimer of warranties and liabilities in favour of the Commonwealth of Australia.

JSA used data records provided by the parties listed on the Nowcasting Methodology page in the preparation of NERO.

Use of, including to copy, redistribute, remix, transform, or build upon, all or any part of NERO must include the following attribution: Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation, Jobs and Skills Australia, Commonwealth of Australia. Used under Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence.