Month-on-month increase for overall job ads reaches 5.1% in January
Ad volumes for HR and Recruitment roles went up in January as part of Australia's biggest increase in job ads in over three years, according to the latest employment report from SEEK.
The month-on-month increase for job ads reached 5.1% in January, the highest jump in ad volumes since October 2021.
"The increase is likely to be a course correction after three months of declining levels of hiring at the end of 2024, and renewed activity as hirers have a clearer vision for the upcoming year," said Dr. Blair Chapman, SEEK Senior Economist, in a statement.
"Based on our data and economist forecasts, we expect job ads to be broadly stable in the short term, so this kind of month-on-month jump is not yet indicative of any great change in trend in the market."
Job ads went up for almost all industries across the country, with HR and Recruitment roles seeing a 1.8% monthly increase.
The biggest hike was reported in the Engineering industry, with 16%, followed by Advertising, Arts, and Media with 12.5%, according to the report. Only the Consulting and Strategy roles reported a decline, with -5.1%.
"With significant rises in the Trades & Services and Engineering industries, some of this rising demand can be attributed to resourcing for large infrastructure projects and increasing demand in the housing market," Chapman said.
By geography, the biggest increase in ad volumes is reported in South Australia, with 11.4%. This is followed by Western Australia (8.5%) and the Northern Territory (7.8%).
Only Tasmania registered a dip in job ads, with -0.6% in January, according to the report.
Meanwhile, applications per job ad saw its second consecutive 0.1% decline in December.
The biggest increase in applications per job was logged in Education and Training, with 14%. Other sectors that saw an increase are:
Health and Medical (2%)
Information and Communication Technologies (1%)
"Levels are still very elevated compared to historical trends meaning that competition among candidates remains very strong," the report read.
