Unemployment set to drop on back of job ad surge

The number of job advertisements on the internet and in newspapers increased in August, with new research suggesting employment is set to fall below 5% by the end of the year.

The latest ANZ Job Advertisements Series found that the total number of jobs listed in metropolitan newspapers and on the internet rose by 2.6% in August, up 36.1% on the same month last year.

Newspaper job ads were up 1.5% from the previous month, with internet postings rising by 2.6%.

In terms of location, New South Wales posted the strongest month-on-month increase, with a 6.6% rise in job listings. Queensland had a 4.8% jump and Tasmania edged up 0.5%, although the Victorian market fell 0.2%, WA dipped by 0.7% and South Australia dropped by 6.4%.

ANZ said that it expected solid employment growth on the back of the figures, predicting that the unemployment rate was “likely” to fall below 5% by the end of the year.

Warren Hogan, chief economist at ANZ, says: “The pick-up in job advertisements in recent months suggests Australian businesses are confident about the local outlook despite the uncertain global economic environment. This suggests the Australian economy is maintaining good momentum into the second half of 2010.”

However, Hogan added: “Anecdotal evidence of skills shortages and increased upward pressure on wages is emerging. Moreover, this labour market tightening is occurring at a very early stage in Australia’s economic cycle given the expectation that a business investment boom will see growth accelerate further over 2011.”