Job advertisements in Australia fell by 2.8% in September 2021 when compared to August 2021, the third consecutive monthly decline, but was still 21.9% higher than the pre-pandemic level (January 2020), according to data from ANZ Bank.

This is consistent with ANZ Bank’s expectation that the measured unemployment rate will only lift a little above 5% later this year.

The total number of job ads reached 189,272 in September.

ANZ Senior Economist, Catherine Birch, said, “ANZ Job Ads fell 2.8% month-on-month in September as New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory remained in lockdown. But the cumulative decline of 6.8% over the past three months is only a tenth the size of the 64.4% plunge between February and May last year, during the national lockdown.

“As New South Wales and Victoria progressively reopen through Q4, we expect ANZ Job Ads, employment and hours worked to rebound and underemployment to drop, in line with the recovery in labour demand and broader economic activity,” Birch added. “But we think measured unemployment is unlikely to peak until after restrictions have eased, as it did last year.”