The number of job advertisements placed for November was nominally higher than the same time last year.
The number of job advertisements on the internet and in newspapers remained flat in November, new figures reveal.
According to the ANZ Job Advertisement series, the total number of jobs advertised in Australia last month was at an average of 181,461 advertisements per week, only 0.2 per cent higher than in 2010.
Jobs advertised in newspapers grew by 0.6 per cent in November, but were 15.9 per cent lower than a year ago, reflecting the move towards online advertising.
The number of internet job advertisements were broadly unchanged for the month, but remain 6.6 per cent lower than at its peak in April of this year.
Head of Australian economics and property research at ANZ, Ivan Colhoun, said the current trend rate of employment growth is unlikely to be fast enough to absorb the forecast growth in the labour force.
:: Two speeds
“The negative trend in job advertisements points towards only modest employment gains for the Australian economy over the coming months. As a result, ANZ forecasts the unemployment rate to rise to 5.5 per cent by mid-2012.”
The research also found that the mining states of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory continued to outperform the more populous states of New South Wales and Victoria.
Mr Colhoun added that as a result, employment growth disparities between states “are to be expected”.
The average number of newspaper advertisements increased by 10.1 per cent from the previous month in Queensland, 4.5 per cent in Western Australia, 2.5 percent in Tasmania and 2.2 per cent in the Northern Territory.
In New South Wales these figures fell by of 2.9 per cent, by 1.7 percent in Victoria, 4.6 per cent in South Australia and 0.7 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Reserve Bank has cut interest rates by 0.25 per cent.
The 25 basis point fall comes on the back of a similar cut last month. The official interest rate is now 4.25 per cent.
Each 0.25 per cent drop in interest rates slices about $60 off the monthly interest cost of an average Australian mortgage.
