Job ad volumes in Australia fell by 0.6% in March compared to February — the second consecutive monthly decline — and were 15.7% lower compared to March 2022, Seek reported on Tuesday in its “Seek Employment Report – March 2023” for Australia.

Still, job ads were 25.1% higher in March than they were in March 2019, prior to the pandemic.

“It has been three years since Covid began to impact the Australian labour market, and the flow on effects are still being felt, with unemployment extremely low and job ad volumes remaining elevated compared to 2019 levels,” said Kendra Banks, managing director of Seek ANZ.

“Job ads are falling, but only marginally each month, as the market continues to stabilise post the job ad boom of last year,” Banks said. “There is also understandably some trepidation among hirers as to the economic outlook, particularly in our largest capital cities, contributing to the slight slowdown in hiring.”

Applications per job ad rose by 4.0% from January to February, according to Seek. As job ads fell only slightly during that period, this shows applications picking up at a faster rate than job ads are falling, indicating increased activity among candidates. Applications per job ad remain below 2019 levels but are 48.5% higher than they were in March 2022.    

“Candidate activity is picking up across all of our metrics, and applications per job ad are at the highest level they have been in almost two years, though still below pre-pandemic levels,” Banks said. “Most industries recorded greater applications per job ad in March, particularly for secondary and vocational teaching roles.”

Job ad declines in New South Wales, down 1.0%, and Victoria, down 1.2%, contributed to the national drop in job ads. Job ads in Melbourne fell 1.5%, whereas those outside of the Greater Melbourne area did not change. In Sydney, job ads fell 1.6%, but in all other areas of New South Wales rose by 0.9%.

By industry, jobs ads in “hospitality and tourism” fell by 5.5% in March, contributing to the overall decline. However, demand for teachers lead to a 2.4% increase in job ads in the “education and training” sector.