Australia | Jul 07 2008
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck
ANZ economists report the total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet throughout Australia fell by a seasonally adjusted 3.0% in June to a weekly average of 262,705 per week.
June’s fall follows a 1.7% decrease in May. ANZ points out the total number of advertisements in June was 6.2% higher than 12 months ago. In trend terms the total number of job advertisements fell by 0.6% in June.
Looking at the different channels for advertising jobs, the number of job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers decreased by 3.5% in June to an average of 16,593 per week. This followed a 13.5% decrease in May. According to ANZ surveys, newspaper advertisements are now 17.9% lower than in June 2007. In trend terms, the number of newspaper job advertisements fell by 2.4% to be 15.1% lower than a year ago.
ANZ reports the fall in newspaper job advertisements in June was driven by decreases in Victoria (-6.8%), the ACT (-5.7%), Queensland (-5.6%), New South Wales (-4.1%), and the Northern Territory (-2.3%). In contrast, South Australia (+1.0%), Western Australia (+0.3%) and Tasmania (+16.6%) all bucked the trend.
The number of internet job advertisements fell by 2.9% in June to average 246,112 per week. In trend terms, internet job advertisements continued to fall by a modest 0.5% in June, although they remain 11.7% higher over the past year, the economists point out.
ANZ Co-Head of Australian Economics Sally Auld, believes it is unlikely the latest survey foreshadows a sustained downturn in employment. While employment growth should ease modestly over the next six months, ANZ economists do not expect a significant slowing in labour market activity. They believe, instead, the risk may be that persistent skill shortages could encourage firms to hoard labour. This should ensure that while labour market conditions soften, the slowdown in employment growth and the rise in the unemployment rate will be reasonably measured, says Auld.
Auld also highlights that while Tasmania experienced strong growth in the month, the data are historically volatile due to the relatively small number of advertisements in the state.