Australia: Job Ads remain close to record High

The total number of Australian jobs advertised in major newspapers and on the internet eased marginally by 0.5 percent in July to an average of 248,590 per week. This is a continuation of the consolidation of job advertisements that began in June following May’s 10.3 percent rise in advertisements. Advertisements in July were 32.9% higher than 12 months ago according to the ANZ Job Series report.

Looking at the different channels for advertising jobs, the number of job advertisements in major
newspapers dropped by 1 percent in July to an average of 19,957 per week. This decline follows a 3.1 percent fall in June. Newspaper advertisements are now 0.3 percent higher than in July 2006.
The decline in newspaper job advertisements in July was driven by falls in Western Australia; Queensland; New South Wales; and South Australia. These falls were partially offset by job advertising rises in Tasmania (up an astounding 14.9%); Victoria; the Northern Territory; and the ACT.

The number of internet job advertisements fell slightly by 0.5 percent in July to an average of 228,633 per week. Internet job advertisements are still growing solidly, and annual growth has picked up to 41.4 percent from 25.9 percent eight months ago.

“Job advertisements remain very close to the record high reached in May. This points to the fact that demand for labour continues to exhibit exceptional strength,” ANZ Head of Australian Economics Tony Pearson said.

“The official labour force data show that employment growth remains strong and the unemployment rate remains close to three decade lows,” Mr Pearson said.