The number of firms wanting to take on new staff has grown to its highest level in nine months.

Most of the jobs were offering low pay and many had unsociable hours, but the applicants turned up in their thousands.

Building consent stats released this morning show a 3.1 per cent jump in the number of new homes authorised for construction in November - the highest level since May 2008.

Business confidence stalled in December, according to the latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion.

The number of jobs advertised in major Australian newspapers and online rose by 6 per cent in December, the strongest monthly growth since May 2007.

After 10 years of war for talent, the Noughties ended with unemployment at a nine-year high of 6.5 per cent.