Job adverts down

Overall, job adverts fell 1.5 per cent over the month of March after rising by 3 per cent in February.

But despite the recent drop, ANZ’s head of Australian macroeconomics Katie Dean said the level of job advertisements on the internet and in newspapers is higher than at the end of 2012.

“After notable weakness at the end of last year, job advertising trends have shown signs of stabilising,” Ms Dean said.

“Looking through the monthly volatility, job advertisements are now modestly higher than their levels three months ago. However, at this stage, it is too early to tell whether this indicates a sustained pick-up in hiring intentions.

“Some of the improvement in job advertising is likely to reflect a degree of ‘pent up’ labour demand. Due to heightened uncertainty about global economic and political developments at the end of last year, businesses may have held off on hiring staff. This same reasoning is likely to have been behind the recovery in job advertising in early 2012, which did not last.”