According to the ANZ, Job advertisements rose 1.3% m/m in November, the fourth consecutive monthly increase. They see risks ahead, as the property sector cools and exchange falls slow.
Job ads are now rising 1.1% in trend terms. Over the year, job ads are up 12.3%. The number of internet job ads rose 1.4% m/m and 13.0% y/y in November. The number of newspaper job ads (just 2% of total job ads) fell 4.3% in November, following a rise of 2.7% in October. The trend in newspaper job ads remains structurally downwards.
ANZ Co-head of Australian Economics said:
“Australia’s labour market continues to send positive signals about the current state of the economy.
Overall activity is clearly being supported by labour intensive services industries. This was borne out in last week’s national accounts which showed ongoing subdued activity in a range of goods industries but strong growth across a range of services industries. This has been reflected in hiring and jobs growth. There is also evidence that fiscal restraint by governments has eased overall and public sector hiring has picked up. Overall employment growth has also been supported by relatively weak wages growth.
We expect the unemployment rate to broadly track sideways around 6% until later next year which would be an unsatisfactory outcome in our view. We see jobs growth slowing in 2016 as the boost from strong property market activity and the lower currency begins to wane. There is a risk, however, that job ads are signalling that employment growth could remain relatively strong for some time yet and the unemployment rate could decline a little.”
