Australia job advertisements rise for 8th month

[SYDNEY] Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet rose for the eight straight month in January to reach their highest in at least two years, pointing to some pick up in demand for labour.

A survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job advertisements rose 1.3 per cent to 142,398 per week on average in January. Annual growth in ads accelerated to 13.6 per cent, the fastest in two-and-a-half years.

Ads on the internet rose 1.5 per cent in January, while those in newspapers resumed their long-running decline with a drop of 6.7 per cent.

"The eighth consecutive monthly rise in ANZ job ads is an encouraging sign that new labour demand continues to improve in certain sectors of the Australian economy," said ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan.

The official employment figures for January are due on Thursday and forecasts centre on a slight rise of 5,000 following two months of unexpectedly strong job gains.

The unemployment rate is seen ticking up to 6.2 per cent, but it has been unusually volatile in recent months as the Australian Bureau of Statistics ran into survey troubles that distorted the numbers.

REUTERS