Resources jobs resume their descent

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By Leith van Onselen

DFP Recruitment has released its mining and resources jobs index for November, which registered a fall of 4.2% to 60.90, marking eight falls out of the past nine months.

Year on year, the number of mining and resources job advertisements has fallen by 31.3% nationally, but by only 2.6% in the last quarter. Moreover, since January 2014, advertised permanent opportunities have declined by 33% and Contract and Temporary roles have fallen by 25%. (see next chart).

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According to DFP, “the principle hiring factor driving the reduction in advertised vacancies is the price of commodities… The RBA reported a 4.5% fall in bulk commodity prices in November in A$ terms. Iron
ore and coal prices are the lead indicators for demand for staff, and a further softening in the employment market seems inevitable” (see next chart).

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At the state level, Queensland has fared the worst, recording a further 6.3% fall in the Mining and Resources Job Index in November. Vacancies in Queensland are now half of that recorded 12 months ago, reflecting the 24% fall in coal prices. By way of comparison, Western Australia has experienced a 20.4% reduction in advertised vacancies in the 12 months to December, reflecting its more diversified resources base (see next chart).

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Western Australia now offers 52.9% of all mining and resources vacancies in the country. Queensland remains a clear second with a market share of 25.5%.

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At the sub-sector level, both Coal Mining and Exploration have been particularly weak with job advertisement volumes nearly half that recorded in mid 2013. Oil and Gas has also disappointed, given there was an expectation throughout the industry that new projects in gas might replace some of the jobs lost in coal and iron ore, and across mineral exploration (see next chart).

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Full report here.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.