Canberra jobs competition is heating up but opportunity persists in some sectors

Though the unemployment rate remained near a 50-year low of 3.7 per cent in August, the volume of job ads fell by 1.8 per cent last month and is down more than 20 per cent from a year earlier, according to the SEEK employment report.

In the ACT, the number of advertised vacancies declined by a more modest 0.4 per cent in August but are a fifth scarcer than they were the same time in 2022.

The results suggest that labour market remarkable resilience through the first eight months of the year may be coming to an end as the economic slowdown deepens.

SEEK senior economist Matt Cowgill said jobhunters were facing increasing competition, with the average number of applicants for each vacancy climbing steadily for six consecutive months to be twice as many as a year earlier.

In the ACT, there was a 13.2 per cent jump in July and is 67 per cent higher than it was four years ago, before the pandemic.

"We appear to be moving closer to a hirer's market," Mr Cowgill said.

But the economist said that, despite the trend, there was still an abundance of opportunities for jobseekers.

"When we remove the peaks and troughs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we see historically high volumes of opportunities for workers, matched with proportionately large application levels from candidates," he said.

"There is still plenty of choice for workers looking to make a move."

Most large industries monitored by SEEK recorded a decline in vacancies in August. Job ads in manufacturing, transport and logistics declined 3 per cent, dropped 2.6 per cent in trades and services and were 1.4 per cent lower in healthcare and medical.

There has been a particularly steep decline in job ads in the consultancy sector, where they dropped more than 10 per cent in a month, possibly reflecting in part the federal government's efforts to reduce its reliance on external expertise.

But retail bucked the trend. Job ads in the sector climbed 3.2 per cent instead. Mr Cowgill put the increase down to preparations for the seasonal shopping period ahead.

"This [increase] shows retail businesses across the country have begun preparing for the busy Christmas period, with increasing demand for retail assistants and assistant manager roles," he said.

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While retailers are gearing up for a seasonal shopping binge, there is increasing evidence that households are trimming their spending and dragging down growth.

Annual output slowed to 2.1 per cent in the June quarter as consumer spending, which accounts for about 50 per cent of growth, barely increased, rising by just 0.1 per cent.

The weakness of the result was underlined by the fact that it occurred at a time of strong population growth, without which it would have been negative.

The federal government expects the slowdown to reduce employer demand for workers, predicting the jobless rate will edge higher to 4.25 per cent by mid-2024 and reach 4.5 per cent a year later.

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