Rising unemployment has dampened demand for migrant workers, with 40% fewer foreigners seeking visas last financial year, according to the daily newspaper The Australian. The number of foreigners applying for a four-year work visa fell below 50,000 during 2013-14.

Thousands of migrant workers flocked back to their home countries during the year, triggering the cancellation of nearly 29,000 work visas. Visa applications from foreigners for clerical and administrative jobs crashed 80% to just 660 during 2013-14, compared with 3,370 the year before.

As Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1% last financial year, the number of foreign managers applying to work in Australia fell 41% to 9720. Visa applications from professionals fell almost a third to 24,810. The biggest employer of foreign workers — the tourism and hospitality sector — saw applications halve to 5,330 during the year.

Migrant work visa applications also halved in the construction sector — down to 4,490 — and fell 55% in the mining industry, to 2,600 applications. Despite the slump in new applications, the number of migrants already working in Australia on the four-year 457 work visas was +0.8% higher last financial year to 108,870 workers.

Unpublished Immigration Department data shows it cancelled 27,904 of the 457 visas during the year: +45% more than in 2012-13.

A spokesman for Assistant Minister for Immigration Michaelia Cash yesterday said most of the 457 visas had been cancelled “following the voluntary departure of a visa holder as a result of their employers advising of the end of employment’’.

“Given this is a demand-driven program, the total numbers of cancellations generally reflect the demand for overseas labour,’’ he said. “This slowdown in growth of the program is likely due to the softening labour market as well as a combination of regulatory reform and better targeted monitoring and compliance activities.’’

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national secretary Michael O’Connor said the fall in job applications from migrant workers proved that labour market testing was helping Australians find jobs.

Under changes introduced by the former Labour government last year, employers must advertise for local staff before hiring migrant workers. The “labour market test’’ only covers a quarter of the 457 visa occupations, including the trades. “Labour market testing should be extended and monitored,’’ Mr O’Connor said. “At the moment, labour market testing can involve putting an ad on a Facebook page for five minutes.”

Monash University demographer Bob Birrell, of the Centre for Population and Urban Research, said foreign students, backpackers and 457 visa workers accounted for one million workers in Australia. “Graduates are finding it tough because of competition from skilled migrants, particularly in nursing, ICT, accounting and ­engineering,’’ he said.

“Most of the net growth in jobs in the past three years has been taken up by people who arrived from overseas in that period, putting enormous pressure on young people seeking entry-level jobs.’’

Employment Minister Eric Abetz has instructed his department to investigate CFMEU claims that employers have tried to hire foreign workers despite Australians being available to do the work. He urged unions to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman about any loopholes allowing ­employers to exploit 457 temporary work visas. Senator Abetz said he was concerned by a report in The Australian that labour market testing had resulted in the Immigration ­Department knocking back nearly one in 10,457 visa applications. He insisted that employers should hire “Australians first’’.

“We should be testing the job market,’’ he said. “Everybody in this government is committed to providing jobs for Australians first, if at all possible. If we do have labour shortages in certain areas it makes good sense to open up the opportunities to people from other countries but first and foremost we have an ­obligation to provide employment opportunities to our fellow Australians.”