ANZ’s job advertisement is well-known as a leading indicator of employment. It reflects changes in demand for labour and provides another measure of activity in the economy. As such, government officials and economists would have been unhappy when they saw the latest figures from the monthly survey. Total job advertisements fell 1.9% in December (in seasonally–adjusted terms) after a revised 1.6% rise in November while the year-to-December figure of 3.7% was lower than November’s comparable figure of 6.0%.
ANZ senior economist Jo Masters described the result as indicating “the labour market as losing some of its previously strong momentum [but] not stalling.” The ANZ economist was quite optimistic conditions in the labour market would continue to improve. “While the labour market has clearly lost some momentum, business and consumer confidence remain elevated, capacity utilisation appears to be on the rise, and retail sales have strengthened recently. As such, we continue to expect conditions in the labour market to support an ongoing, albeit gradual, decline in the unemployment rate this year.”