For the first time post-pandemic, job ads on job board Seek Australia registered a decline of 0.9% when compared to the previous year in October 2021.

The monthly decline continues to trend downward with job ads reported at -3.7% in October 2022. However, applications per job ad rose 7.3%, indicating the volume of people looking for work is higher compared to the number of jobs available.

Also for the first time in a year, job ads in states with major cities in Australia are recording a decline, showing further evidence of job growth slowing down. Job ads fell over the year in five states, which include Australian Capital Territory at -7.1%, New South Wales at -3.9%, Victoria at -4.7%, South Australia at -1.9%, and Northern Territory at -4.9%.

When compared to the previous month, Queensland reported a 2% growth in jobs ads and the Australian Capital Territory saw a growth of 2.1%. This was followed by Northern Territory at 1.7%. Victoria saw the biggest decrease at -7.6%, followed by New South Wales at -2.7%.

By industry, Education and Training registered the biggest year-over-year increase at 16.6%, followed by Accounting at 12.4%. Community Services and Development, and Administration and Office Support both reported increases of 9.7%.

On a monthly basis, however, all industries saw a decline, except for Healthcare and Medical, and Information and Communication Technology, which saw modest growth at 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.