Australian job ads slide 12.5% in December
Australian job ads slide 12.5% in December

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ANZ-Indeed Australian job ads tumbled 12.5% year-on-year in December 2024. Job ads were also down 27.8% from their peak in June 2022 but are still 14.7% above pre-pandemic levels.
On a month-on-month basis, job ads edged up 0.3% month-on-month in December, following a downwardly revised 1.8% month-on-month decline in November. In trend terms, the series was down 0.2% month-on-month.
“ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads steadied in late 2024, with the series rising 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q4, the first quarterly rise since Q3 2022,” Madeline Dunk, ANZ Economist, said in a press release. “This follows a cumulative decline of 13.8% over the first three quarters of the year (quarterly average).”
The stabilisation in the series coincides with other data signalling resilience in the labour market. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) job vacancies figures grew 4.2% quarter-on-quarter in the November quarter, the first rise since May 2022. The unemployment rate fell 0.2% to 3.9% in November and the underemployment rate dropped to a 19-month low of 6.1%.
“In December, growth in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland offset declines in New South Wales and Victoria, leading to modest growth nationally,” Indeed senior economist, Callam Pickering, said. “We continue to have a bit of a two-speed job market with the decline in job ads for New South Wales and Victoria far exceeding those in other states and territories.”
The data noted that hiring activity typically grinds to a halt during December, but there were some sectors, such as childcare, construction and some healthcare professions, where hiring ramped up towards the end of the year. Christmas-exposed sectors, such as retail and food services, also held up surprisingly well during December.