Job advertisements: New data shows slight growth month-on-month

As the Australian economy continues to feel the impact of the coronavirus, new job ad figures show the industries that are in need of staff.

Australia’s job market experienced a slight overall improvement in July, recording a 2.3 per cent month-on-month rise in jobs ads, according to a new employment report released by SEEK.

However, Victoria, the state worst hit by the coronavirus outbreak, and the Northern Territory continue to struggle with drops of 12.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent in month-on-month jobs ads respectively.

Other states and territories had a small rebound in job ads – albeit at a slower rate than previous months — with overall figures down 30 per cent compared to August 2019.

SEEK’s Managing Director Kendra Banks said the state’s second wave and Melbourne’s Stage 4 lockdown will continue to affect Victorian job ad volumes in August however July figures weren’t “as severe” as the declines seen in March and April.

“While we continue to see a decline in Victorian job ads, the current figures are not as severe as the declines we experienced in March and April,” she said.

“In July, small and medium enterprises did everything they could to innovate and find new ways to operate, however we expect next month’s job ad volumes to tell a different story after Melbourne entered stage four restrictions in the first week of August.”

RELATED: 250,000 Victorian workers stood down

Retail stores across Melbourne were closed as part of stage 4 lockdown restrictions, with about 250,000 Victorians being stood down from their jobs as a result. Picture: Getty.

The job ads data came as Thursday’s labour force figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Australia’s jobless rate had increased to 7.5 per cent in July, indicating a rise of 0.1 per cent.

While experts predicted this figure to be closer to eight per cent, ABS spokesman Bjorn Jarvis said the number of unemployed people rose by 16,000 between June and July.

“For the first time there were more than one million people out of work, available to work and actively looking for work,” said Mr Jarvis.

Queensland lead the nation in job ad growth. Reporting a rise of 7.4 per cent from June figures, key sectors that contributed to the rise were hospitality and tourism, and education and training sectors, which were up 31 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

Ms Banks also called out New South Wales and Western Australia for their continued growth.

“New South Wales job ad volumes grew by 6.3 per cent month-on-month in July, with sectors including sales (up 17 per cent), manufacturing, transport and logistics (up 16 per cent) and healthcare and medical (up 16 per cent),” she said.

“Western Australia also performed well in July, with job ad volumes up 5.2 per cent month-on-month. The construction, manufacturing, transport and logistics and sales sectors all made strong contributions to the state’s growth, up 21 per cent, 20 per cent and 16 per cent respectively in July.”

JOB AD VOLUMES IN EACH STATE

• Australian Capital Territory, up 12.4 per cent
• Queensland, up 7.4 per cent
• New South Wales, up 6.3 per cent
• South Australia, up 5.3 per cent
• Western Australia, up 5.2 per cent
• Tasmania, up 1.1 per cent
• Northern Territory, down 1.8 per cent
• Victoria, down 12.8 per cent

Nationally, industries that had the biggest month-on-month job ad increase include manufacturing, transport and logistics, and science and technology sectors (both up nine per cent) as well as the construction sector which had an 8 per cent rise.

Consulting and strategy (down 24 per cent), hospitality and tourism (down 21 per cent), and advertising, arts and media (down nine per cent) saw the biggest decline in new hire demand.

While these rise in job ads are promising, unemployment rates are predicted to rise throughout 2020.

Speaking to media in early August, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tipped unemployment rates to reach 10 per cent by the end of the year with up to 400,000 people expected to lose their jobs due to Victorian lockdowns.

This article was created in partnership with SEEK.