Job ads in Australia slid by 22.0% year-over-year in May 2023, according to the latest Seek Employment Report.

The Australian job board’s report also showed that on a monthly basis, job ads decreased by 0.6%. This was the fourth consecutive monthly fall.

At the same time, applications per job ad rose 4.8% from the month prior and are now only 1% lower than May 2019. This 4.8% rise is the highest candidate activity levels have been at for over two years, with monthly rises in ten out of the past 12 months.

Job ads are also 21.7% higher than May 2019, the report noted.

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, Seek ANZ, said of the monthly figures, “The market continues to show signs of stabilising after periods of rapid growth and decline shaped the labour market last year.”

“Job ads dropped only marginally in May, with incremental decreases for most industries, and small increases in some others,” Banks continued. “Demand for healthcare & medical and accounting and construction workers rose against the trend.”

“While job ad volumes have dropped since their peak last year, they remain higher than their pre-Covid-19 levels, showing that hirers are still looking for workers, despite a reasonably tough economic outlook,” Banks added.

Seek’s year-on-year data showed declines across every state. The smallest decline was recorded in Tasmania (-7.2%) while the largest decline was seen in Victoria which reported a decline of 27.3%.

On a monthly basis, job ads rose in the two territories: Northern Territory (4.8%) and the Australia Capital Territory (1.2%). Apart from Victoria, which recorded no change, every other state declined on a month-on-month basis, including Tasmania (-2.2%) and South Australia (-1.9). Western Australia recorded its first decline this year, falling 0.7%.

Further month-on-month data showed that many of the larger industries recorded job ad declines in May, including trades & services (-1.7%), manufacturing, transport & logistics (-2.3%) and retail & consumer products (-3.1%).

However, the healthcare & medical industry was the largest to record an increase in job ads in May, rising 0.6%, due to increased demand for physiotherapists, occupational therapists and rehabilitation workers (7%) and psychologists, counsellors and social workers (3%).

Meanwhile, job ads in education & training fell for the first time since December (-2.2%). Demand for Primary and Secondary Teachers continued to rise however, increasing 6% and 4% respectively, month-on-month.

Applications per job ad have risen in most industries, led by applications for roles in government & defence (13%) and call centre & customer service (13%).