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 tracked lower for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019. The latest figures mark a continuation, perhaps even acceleration, of this trend.
May’s figures have now been released by ANZ and, after revisions and seasonal adjustments, total advertisements dropped by 8.4% to 152,689. On a 12-month basis, total job advertisements fell by 14.9%, a sharp deterioration from April’s comparable figure of -5.6% after revisions.
ANZ’s Head of Australian Economics, David Plank said the timing of certain holidays may have had a sizable effect on the figures this year. “Job ads were down sharply in May, which at face value points to a sharp slowing in employment growth. But we think there is a good reason why this decline is not representative of reality. Job ads plunged in the last week of April, which we think was due to the ‘holiday year’ effect that happens when ANZAC Day and Easter are close together.”