SYDNEY: Australian job advertisements fell in November after two months of gains, data shows, in a sign that demand for labour is slowly easing in the face of high interest rates.
Data from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and employment website Indeed showed job ads fell 1.3% in November from October, when they rose by an upwardly revised 0.7%.
Job ads for November were down 11.5% from a year earlier. They have fallen 27.6% from their peak in 2022 but remain 15.1% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said it was possible that some of the lift in September and October reflected a pull-forward in end of the year hiring.
“The coming months will determine whether the series resumes its previous downward trend,” Dunk said.
Job ads rose considerably in education and personal care in November, helping offset broad-based declines elsewhere.
The central bank has left interest rates unchanged at 4.35% for a year but the labour market has stayed resilient, a reason that markets have not fully priced in a rate cut until May next year. — Reuters
