Seek’s job ads numbers (courtesy of ANZ) tell the tale of why trend unemployment is still up despite today’s improved headline unemployment rate:
SEEK published its internet job ads data for November today. The number of new job ads declined 3.6% m/m following a 2.7% fall in October. SEEK job ads are now 21% lower than the peak in April last year (-16.1% over the year to November) and have fallen in each of the past ten months. The trend in the SEEK data is consistent with ANZ’s job advertisements series which has declined for the past eight months.
SEEK job ads are firmly trending lower in of the most populous states, although they have fallen most sharply (between 18 and 25%) in the resources states of Queensland and Western Australia, as well as in South Australia. SEEK job ads are also 11-12% lower in NSW and Victoria over the past year.
Job ads data continue to suggest that employment growth will remain subdued, at least the near term.
Seek job ads by state:
And in comparison with the unemployment arte:
