Australia job ads rise 2.0% in August as demand resilient

AUSTRALIAN job advertisements rebounded in August to the highest in more than a decade as demand for labour remained resilient despite rising interest rates and red-hot inflation, a survey showed on Monday.

Figures from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job ads rose 2.0 per cent in August from July, when they fell 1.0 per cent.

Ads were up 20.2 per cent on a year earlier at 242,301. 

“Last month, we hypothesised that ANZ Job Ads had passed its peak, but we have been proven wrong,” said ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch.

“The volume of unfilled labour demand suggests the effects of higher inflation, rising rates and global growth risks on the labour market will be lagged.”

The jobless rate surprised in July by falling to a 48-year low of 3.4 per cent, well under what is considered full employment. 

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That tightness in the labour market is one reason analysts are confident the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will this week hike rates by 50 basis points to 2.35 per cent, the fifth move since May. 

Vacancies hit a record high of 480,100 in the three months to May, meaning there were more jobs open than there were unemployed. REUTERS