Australia job ads rebound 1.8% in August : ANZ

[SYDNEY] Australian job advertisements rebounded in August after a dip in July, pointing to solid demand for labour and a moderate pace of employment growth ahead.

A monthly survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job advertisements rose 1.8 per cent in August, from July when they fell 0.8 per cent.

That left the annual pace of job ads growth at 6.1 per cent. ANZ no longer provides a breakdown between internet job ads and those in newspapers, as the latter were now so small a share of total ads.

"The bounce in ANZ job ads in August is an encouraging sign that the improvement in labour market conditions is continuing,"said Felicity Emmett, head of Australian Economics at ANZ. "The rise in job ads is consistent with the ongoing strength in business conditions and increasing capacity utilisation reported in the business surveys."

At current levels, the rate of job ads growth was consistent with employment growing at an annual pace of close to 2 per cent, she added.

REUTERS