Australia's mining companies are shedding jobs by the thousands, with 50,000 workers losing their jobs in the past 12 months.

The country's manufacturing industry has been shrinking too, though not as quickly - dumping 25,300 jobs since February last year.

The mining industry has shed thousands of jobs in the past 12 months. Credit:Michele Mossop

New Bureau of Statistics figures confirm what has been long known: the mining construction boom is past its peak, and the manufacturing industry is not taking on new workers.

But there has also been a surge in professional, scientific and technical services jobs, while housing activity has helped to boost construction workers by almost as much as lost mining jobs.