ANZ Job advertisement series

According to the ANZ Job Advertisement Series, the total number of jobs advertised in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet fell by 5.9% in October to a weekly average of 231,135 per week. This followed a fall of 1.4% in September. The total number of advertisements in October was 9.8% lower than 12 months ago.


Looking at the different channels for advertising jobs, the number of job advertisements in major
metropolitan newspapers decreased by 12.2% in October to an average of 13,350 per week.
Newspaper advertisements are now 34.7% lower than in October 2007.


The large fall in newspaper job advertisements in October was driven by declines in all states and territories. The largest fall in percentage terms was in Western Australia (-14.8%), followed by Queensland (-14.1%), the ACT (-12.8%), New South Wales (-11.9%), Tasmania (-11.4%), Victoria(-11.0%), South Australia (-5.7%) and the Northern Territory (-4.7%).


ANZ Head of Australian Economics Warren Hogan, said: “Total job advertisements continued to
fall in October, down 5.9% in the month, to be 9.8% lower than a year ago. As a leading indicator
of economic conditions in Australia, the latest job advertisements data suggest the global financial crisis has had a substantial impact on the Australian economy. Internet job advertisements fell 5.5% in October, the third consecutive fall in a row and the fourth monthly decline in the past six months.

“The real weakness has been in newspaper advertising. Newspaper job advertisements fell 12.2% in the month of October and are now down 34.7% in the past year. Annual growth in newspaper ads is now the weakest since 2001. The economy avoided recession then but the unemployment rate rose by a percentage point (from 6% to 7%). The only weaker outcomes for newspaper job advertisements over the past 30 years were in 1991 and 1982 when the economy experienced recession. This will be an important indicator of the extent of the looming downturn in the Australian economy and the likely trajectory for unemployment over the next few years.”