Australian job ads fall 3% in July: ANZ-Indeed data

Australian job ads continued their steady decline for the six consecutive month in July, according to data from ANZ-Indeed on Tuesday.

The job ads dropped three per cent month-on-month in July, a bigger fall from the revised -2.7% recorded in June and marking a -16.7% decline since January.

Annually, ANZ-Indeed job ads have fallen -20.8%, but remains 13.3% higher than the pre-pandemic levels, according to the report.

Indeed senior economist Callam Pickering said most of the states in Australia saw "modest drops" in job ads.

"In July, the decline in ANZ-Indeed Job Ads was once again concentrated in Victoria and New South Wales," Pickering said in a statement. "The nation's two most populous states account for around 86% of the total decline in job ads over the past year."

By industry, there was reduced demand for employees in education, food preparation, as well as service and nursing, according to Pickering.

"Over the past three months, job ads have fallen for 57% of occupational categories," he added. "Among those bucking the national trend, with job ads rising, have been physicians and surgeons and banking and finance."

Cooling labour market

The sixth consecutive drop in job ads indicate the "continued cooling in the labour market," according to ANZ economist Madeline Dunk.

"We've also seen the share of employers recruiting fall sharply in June to levels last seen during the east coast 2021 lockdowns, while average hours worked per employed person has declined 30 minutes a week since February 2023," Dunk said.

"Taken together, there is a risk the labour market could slow more sharply than we and the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) are forecasting."