Australia job ads fall in August, annual growth weakens

[SYDNEY] Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the internet fell in August, after rising for two consecutive months suggesting the overall trend in the labour market was still weak despite two rate cuts since June.

Monday's figures from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job advertisements slipped a seasonally adjusted 2.8 per cent in August from July, when they climbed 0.8 per cent.

Ads averaged 156,978, 11.4 per cent lower than in August last year. Annual growth has been in negative territory since the start of this year.

ANZ's head of Australian economics David Plank said the data suggests the labour market is softening and provides further evidence that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will need to cut the cash rate again.

The vacancies series is closely watched by the RBA since the Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys firms directly about their labour needs rather than just counting ads.

The RBA has chopped its cash rate in June and July to an all-time low of 1 per cent. It is widely expected to stay on hold at its monthly meeting on Tuesday though financial futures are fully pricing in a third cut to 0.75 per cent in October.

REUTERS