Australia – Job ads up 11.5% in February

Australian job advertisement increased by a seasonally-adjusted 11.5% in March when compared to a year ago, according to data from ANZ Bank.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, year-on-year job ads growth in March stood at 11.8%. When compared to February, job ads growth edged up 0.8% in March and seasonally adjusted, monthly growth was flat.

ANZ’s head of Australian economics, David Plank stated that the labour market remains robust.

“The level of job ads is consistent with continued strength in employment growth, though we do expect some slowdown in the pace in which jobs are added. Businesses reported record conditions in February and the uptrend in capacity utilisation suggests that the unemployment rate will slowly grind lower through the year. The recent uptick in the unemployment and underemployment rate, however, shows that spare capacity is reducing only gradually indicating that wage growth is likely to remain muted for some time yet.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in Australia in February stood at 5.6%.

Source: http://www2.staffingindustry.com/row/Editorial/Daily-News/Australia-Job-ads-up-11.5-in-February-45606