Seek job ads tumble 12.2% in December
Seek job ads tumble 12.2% in December

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Job ads on Australian job board Seek declined by 12.2% in December 2024 when compared to December 2023.
On a month-on-month basis, December’s job ads declined for the third consecutive month, down 3.0%. All states and territories contributed to the monthly decline, as did most industries.
Applications per job ad dropped by just 0.1% month-on-month in November 2024 compared to October 2024.
“The trend for 2024 was a moderate decline in job ad volume, and this continued in December with job ads falling 3.0%,” Blair Chapman, Seek senior economist, said in a press release.
While Victoria and New South Wales led the month-on-month decline in October and November, the two states recorded the smallest drops in December, down 1.8% and 2.7% over the month, respectively.
After rising in November, the Australian Capital Territory (-7.5%) and South Australia (-6.2%) were the two regions where volumes fell to the largest degree month-on-month. This was due to declining demand in professional services in the case of the capital and the public sector in South Australia.
On a year-on-year basis, Queensland saw the smallest decline, with ad volume falling 4.7%, compared to 18.5% in Western Australia and 16.4% in the Australian Capital Territory.
‘Ad volumes began the year from an elevated base, and despite the downward trend, the market remains broadly balanced,” Chapman said. “This means there are still plenty of job opportunities available, particularly in healthcare & medical, community services & development and manufacturing, transport & logistics roles.
On a month-on-month basis and by industry, retail & consumer products (3.7%), science & technology (2.4%), consulting & strategy (1.6%) and administration & office support (0.2%).
The greatest monthly decline was recorded for education & training roles (-10.1%) followed by hospitality & tourism (-6.7%) and community services & development (-5.8%); the latter only fell 4.3% year-on-year, one of the smallest declines in 2024.
Legal (2.5%) and farming, animals & conservation (1.4%) were the only two industries in which job ads rose year-on-year.
Seek also noted that overall job ad volumes fell in eight of the twelve months of 2024.
The Seek Employment Report provides a comprehensive overview of the australian employment marketplace.