Job advertisements in Australia increased by 22.3% in September 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis when compared to the same period in September 2021, according to data from ANZ Bank.

When compared to the previous month, job ads fell 0.5% in September. ANZ Bank noted that the figure is only 0.8% below the recent peak in June. This suggests tightness in the labour market is not yet letting up, which is consistent with other indicators, according to ANZ Bank.

Overall, job ads totalled 240,000, which was 56.5% up when compared to January 2020 (pre-Covid-19).

ANZ Senior Economist, Catherine Birch, “ANZ Job Ads declined 0.5% m/m in September but remained very close to its recent peak in June and 56.5% above its pre-pandemic level.”

“It shouldn’t be a surprise that ANZ Job Ads is holding up so well several months into the rate hike cycle. New Zealand’s job ads series, Jobs Online, is yet to turn down, despite the RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) commencing tightening seven months earlier than the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia), Birch added.

“Other indicators confirming the ongoing strength in labour demand include ABS job vacancies, which remained incredibly high in August, with a 2.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter fall barely making a dent. There is still almost one vacancy per unemployed person,” Birch said.