Australia job ads climb 2% in August: ANZ

[SYDNEY] Australian job advertisements rose for a sixth straight month in August, suggesting the strong pick up in employment seen so far this year could run for a while yet.

A monthly survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group released on Monday showed total job advertisements increased by 2.0 per cent in August, from July when they rose 1.6 per cent.

Ads of 179,572 were up a healthy 13.3 per cent on July last year and at their highest since at least 2011.

After sharp increases in employment from March to July, the government measure has finally caught up with the strength seen in ads and nudged the jobless rate down to 5.6 per cent.

"Job advertisements continue their period of strength, consistent with robust business conditions," said David Plank, ANZ's head of Australian economics. "Together with other forward indicators and survey-based measures, this strength suggests some downside risk to the unemployment rate in the near term, with employment expected to rise in the order of 15-20k per month over the period ahead."

REUTERS