Australia: Job Ads Fall In May

The total number of jobs advertised in major Australian newspapers and on the internet fell by 1.7 percent in May to a weekly average of 270,751 per week. This follows a 3.1 percent increase in April. The total number of ads in May was 9.5 percent higher than 12 months ago. In trend terms the total number of job ads was static.

Looking at the different channels for advertising jobs, the number of job ads in major Australian newspapers decreased by 13.5 percent in May to an average of 17,196 per week, the largest monthly decline in almost eight years. This followed a 16.1 percent increase in April. Newspaper ads are now 16.0 percent lower than in May 2007. In trend terms, the number of newspaper job ads fell by 1.9 percent to be 11.5 percent lower than a year ago. The fall in newspaper job ads in May was driven by decreases in every state.

In seasonally adjusted terms, newspaper job ads have been unusually volatile in the last few months. However, in trend terms we have seen modest declines in each of the last eight months.

The number of internet job ads fell by 0.7 percent in May to average 253,554 per week. In trend terms, the rate of growth in internet job ads continued to slow, growing a modest 0.2 percent in May and 16.1 percent over the past year.

ANZ Co-Head of Australian Economics Sally Auld, said: “Total job advertisements have fallen in May, although this followed a rise in April. This is consistent with our view that job advertisements have plateaued in the first half of this year. In trend terms we are seeing a loss of momentum in job advertisement growth. This indicates that we may see a modest slowdown in monthly employment growth in coming months.”
“While the slowing in job advertisements growth is consistent with some of the weaker partial activity data we have seen across the economy in recent months, we think this reflects caution on the part of employers about hiring new staff. Tighter credit conditions and uncertainty about the global economic outlook may also be negatively impacting business hiring intentions.”