A sharp fall in job ads numbers last months suggests the exceptionally tight labour market is loosening up.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Australia's labour market has proved remarkably resilient as interest rates rise and higher prices eat into household balance sheets.
The jobless rate has been tracking at very low levels and fell 0.1 percentage points to 3.6 per cent in September, based on official Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Yet slowing employment growth and a range of forward-looking indicators, such as vacancies and ads data, have been pointing to gradual easing in the labour market.
A sharp five per cent fall in advertising marketplace SEEK last month was further evidence of a labour market with less unmet demand for workers.
Job ad numbers have been sinking but the October decline was larger than in recent months, with advertising levels getting closer to pre-pandemic norms.
The fall actually brought job ad numbers back in line with 2018 levels, though they remain 16.7 per cent higher than in October 2019.
Applications per job were also higher across all industries.
NAB senior markets economist Taylor Nugent said fewer ads was consistent with a large pullback in unmet labour demand paired with robust population growth.
"Some of the exceptional tightness in the labour market has been easing," he wrote in a note.
"Vacancies have moderated, employment intentions are still reasonably healthy but well off their peaks, and consumer sentiment surveys suggest household expectations for unemployment have risen."
A separate dataset from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found the number of jobs reported through single touch payroll in mid-October was broadly similar to mid-September.
The dataset, which is not seasonally adjusted, captured a large number of temporary roles linked to the recent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum last month.
The labour market is expected to soften as higher interest rates cool the economy though the Reserve Bank's latest set of economic forecasts paint a slightly more optimistic picture.
The unemployment rate is now expected to peak at 4.25 per cent, compared to 4.5 per cent as predicted back in August.
The central bank will release a full set of economic forecasts on Friday.
Australian Associated Press
