Australian jobs advertised rise for sixth month in a row

Photo / Martin Sykes

The number of jobs advertised in Australian newspapers and online rose for the sixth straight month last month, a survey has shown.

The ANZ job ads series showed the total jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet rose 0.6 per cent in October, to a seasonally adjusted average of 179,040 per week.

This follows an upwardly revised 1.1 per cent increase in September, and marked the the sixth consecutive monthly rise in total job ads.

"In line with this month's moderation in employment intentions, we believe the October employment report from the ABS [Australian Bureau of Statistics], due on Thursday 11 November, will show relatively muted employment growth of 15,000," said the report, released yesterday.

"While the pace of employment growth has accelerated in recent months, statistical analysis combined with recent trends in business surveys and in the economy's largest industries ... suggests this pace of growth is set to moderate."

The series is now 34.6 per cent higher than a year ago, but still sits below the historic high of 40.2 per cent, in May 2007.

Moreover, the total number of job ads remains 35.6 per cent below the all-time peak reached in April 2008.

The report showed the number of job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers fell 0.3 per cent last month.

This was the fifth fall in newspaper advertising in seven months and, in part, appears to reflect greater penetration of internet advertising in South Australia and Queensland.

In annual growth terms, newspaper job ads are rising in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the two territories, but are falling in Queensland and SA.

The strength in annual job ads growth is most pronounced in WA (up 50.9 per cent year on year) and the Northern Territory (up 12.3 per cent).

The ABS is expected to release its employment report for September on Thursday. The median market forecast is for an unemployment rate of 5 per cent in the month, down from 5.1 per cent the month before.

- AAP