From mid-2017 onwards, year-on-year growth rates in the total number of job advertisements consistently exceeded 10%. That was until mid-2018 when the annual growth rate fell back markedly and then continued to deteriorate for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. The latest figures for June were positive but they may just represent a correction of May’s holiday-affected numbers.
June’s figures have now been released by ANZ and total advertisements increased by 4.6% to 159,717 after revisions and seasonal adjustments. On a 12-month basis, total job advertisements were 9.1% lower than last year, up from May’s comparable figure of -14.9% after revisions.
ANZ head of Australian Economics David Plank said the increase was more the result of a timing issue than a fundamental process. “ANZ Australian Job Ads bounced back in June after falling more than 8% in May. The ‘holiday-year effect’ in late April and the timing of the election appear to have been responsible for much of the decline in May and the rebound in June can be seen as an unwinding of that effect.” He did not think “it necessarily represents a turn in the overall downward trend, however.”
