Australian Job Ads Rise 2.5% in August as Christmas Hiring Picks Up
Synopsis
Australian job advertisements rose 2.5% in August, driven partly by Christmas hiring across retail and food services, while technology recruitment continued to soften amid expectations of slower economic momentum.
Australia’s job market showed continued resilience in August, with online job advertisements rising 2.5% month-on-month, according to the latest ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads data.
The increase followed an upwardly revised 1.9% rise in July and left job advertisements 7.8% higher than a year earlier.
The latest figures suggest hiring demand remains firm despite tighter monetary conditions.
Job advertisements are now 21.4% above their 2010s average, although economists expect that strength to moderate as higher interest rates continue to weigh on economic activity.
ANZ senior economist Jasmine Zheng said job ads typically respond to changes in economic conditions with a lag and expects the series to gradually trend lower in the months ahead.
Christmas Hiring Drives August Growth
Part of August’s increase came from an early seasonal hiring push ahead of Christmas. Indeed senior economist Callam Pickering said retail and food-service roles recorded strong gains as businesses began preparing for the holiday period.
Indeed’s separate analysis found that Christmas-related positions accounted for 1.8% of Australian job postings at the end of August, compared with 1% a year earlier. The seasonal recruitment cycle is expected to strengthen through September before typically peaking in early October.
Beyond seasonal work, education and cleaning and sanitation roles also recorded strong gains during the month.
Technology Hiring Continues to Ease
The broader strength in job advertisements is not being felt evenly across industries. Technology-related hiring continued to weaken, with demand for software development, data and analytics positions falling modestly in recent months.
Geographically, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland recorded strong increases in job advertisements, more than offsetting a slight decline in New South Wales. Job advertisements have now trended higher across every Australian state during the year.
For employers, the data points to a labour market that remains active, particularly in consumer-facing sectors heading into the Christmas period. For businesses planning workforce requirements beyond the seasonal cycle, however, the expected slowdown in economic momentum and softer technology demand suggest that hiring conditions could become more selective in the months ahead.
Source: Capital Brief
Vishal is an experienced Editor at Inspirepreneur Magazine with key interests in artificial intelligence, eCommerce, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and startup sector. Prior to joining Inspirepreneur, he was a Content Writer cum Correspondent at Siliconindia Magazine, where he worked on Company Profiles, Cover Stories, Executive Profiles, Feature Articles and Thought Leadership content.
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