Jobs ads rise in October ‘encouraging’

The labour market is showing signs of improvement, with job advertisements climbing strongly in October.

The Australian labour market is showing signs of improvement, with job advertisements rising strongly through October.

The ANZ job advertisements series showed a seasonally adjusted 1 per cent lift on the month, bringing the year-on-year gain to 5.2 per cent.

October’s strong rise came after a flat reading in September, while the annual rate of growth ticked up from 3.8 per cent in the prior month.

“The rise in ANZ job ads is encouraging and points to ongoing improvement in labour market conditions,” ANZ head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett said.

“It is consistent with the moderate pace of economic growth, as well as above average business and consumer sentiment.

“Overall, our assessment is that the labour market will continue to improve at a gradual pace and the unemployment rate will continue to edge lower, supported by low interest rates and still elevated business conditions.”

Ms Emmett added excess capacity in the labour market would, however, keep wages growth in check in the medium-term.

“While we think that wage growth has stabilised at a low level, the high rate of under-utilisation suggests that wages are unlikely to accelerate significantly in the near term,” she said.