New data indicates unemployment rate to 'rise further'
The imbalance between labour demand and supply in Australia is gradually easing, according to an Indeed senior economist, as job ads registered an 11.4% decline year-on-year.
"Recent weakness in job ads has been concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria, with a more modest subtraction from Queensland," said Indeed Senior Economic Callam Pickering in a statement.
The weakness in job ads comes as the number of individuals at working age increased 2.8% over the year to September, according to Pickering.
"Driving this year's decline in job ads is fewer opportunities in food preparation & service, software development, and personal care, which offset more opportunities in healthcare and education," he said.
Monthly data
By month, Australian job ads fell three per cent in October, according to ANZ-Indeed data.
This continues a downward trend from September, which revised data showed that job ads declined -0.5% month-on-month, from the previous -0.1%.
"ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads has declined 3.5% over the last two months, taking the series to its lowest level since January 2022," said ANZ economist Madeline Dunk in a statement.
Dunk, however, pointed out that the number of job ads remain elevated compared to historical data.
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"Slack is slowly creeping into the labour market. Hours worked have been falling, recent jobs growth has been driven by part-time employment, youth unemployment has been rising, and the underemployment rate has been moving up," Dunk said.
"This, along with the modest unwinding in job ads numbers, suggests the unemployment rate will rise further."
Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that unemployment is at 3.6% in September, while the number of monthly hours worked fell 0.4% during the period.