ANZ’s job advertisement survey is well-known as a leading indicator of employment numbers in Australia. As such, it is inversely related to the unemployment rate. ANZ’s survey reflects changes in demand for labour and it provides another measure of activity in the economy. There is also a fairly good inverse relationship between changes in Australia’s unemployment rates and changes in the RBA cash rate. Understanding the path of Australia’s unemployment rate has historically provided a reliable indicator of RBA rate changes.
From mid-2017 onwards, year-on-year growth rates in the survey’s total number of advertisements exceeded 10%. That was until recently; figures from August onwards generally indicated falls in the number of advertisements on a monthly basis. Now the annual growth is not much above zero.
November’s figures have now been released and, after revisions and seasonal adjustments, total advertisements decreased by 0.3% to 175,726. On a 12-month basis, total job advertisements grew by 2.3%, a fall from October’s comparable annual growth rate of 3.7%.
