Job Ads in Australia Fall for First Time in 3 Months

The April ANZ job ad survey showed a 1.2 per cent drop in jobs advertised online and in newspapers as interest rate rises and slowing demand reduced momentum in the market.
Job Advertisements in April reduced to an average of 160,660 a week - still 14.9 per cent higher than in April 2009. In annual terms growth is still running well at 14 per cent.

The fall is being attributed not only to the two successive interest rate hikes in Australia in March and April taking the interest rate to its current level at 4.25 per cent, but was also expected after the very strong growth seen in the demand for labour over the last 6 months.

The Labour demand does remain healthy despite the drop and many industries across Australia continue to suffer skill shortages including medical, resources, IT and Telecoms and farming. Job adverts didn’t drop in all areas; improvements were seen in the Northern Territory, Queensland and the ACT.

The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.3 per cent for the fourth month straight.