Job adverts weaken in December

Yesterday, ANZ released its Job Advertisements Series for December, which revealed a 3.8 per cent decline in online and print job ads from the previous month.

“This was the tenth consecutive monthly decline and the number of job advertisements in December was the lowest since January 2010,” according to a statement from ANZ.

ANZ cautioned that job advertising can be “particularly volatile” towards the end of the year, even after adjusting for seasonal patterns.

Justin Fabo, ANZ head of Australian economics, corporate and commercial said he expects the Australian economy to be noticeably below trend this year.

“Job advertising is a key barometer of economic activity and business confidence,” he said. “Its ongoing weakness suggests that conditions for a large share of Australian businesses remain challenging and the outlook uncertain.

Mr Fabo said further monetary easing was necessary to generate sufficient expansion in interest-rate sensitive sectors to support overall growth and limit the rise in the unemployment rate.

“ANZ expects the RBA to lower the cash rate by a further 25 basis points in coming months and for modest growth to necessitate further policy easing over the remainder of this year.”