Australian labour market tightens, but remains buoyant

The Australian labour market continues to be buoyant and it remains difficult for employers to fill positions according to the SEEK Employment Index data released today.

Developed in consultation with Victoria Universityís Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, the SEEK Employment Index is the first Australian aggregate indicator to directly compare labour market supply with labour market demand.

In December, the number of new job ads posted nationally jumped by 8.5% (seasonally adjusted). This follows growth of 11.8% in November, and left new job ads 39% higher than in December 2004.

The number of job applications posted in December did not match growth in new job ads, falling 1.6% (seasonally adjusted), but it remained 31.2% higher than the same time last year.

The strongest jobs growth was in Queensland (12.8%), followed by Western Australia at 8.8%.

SEEK Executive Director, Andrew Bassat, said that due to the candidate short conditions, Australian businesses could not afford to let Christmas deter their hiring activity in December.

ìThere were only slightly less people applying for jobs in December than there were in November, but with higher than usual new jobs being advertised in December it was considerably more difficult for employers to fill positions.

ìPlenty of people find themselves dreading their return to the office after Christmas, so it will be interesting to see if this is reflected by rising job applications over the next few months or if the tightening market will continue.

ìThe prospects for people who want to enter the labour market or change jobs this year are certainly very good. Thereís never been a better time to make that New Yearís resolution career changeî, he said.

Professor Peter Sheehan, Director of the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies said: ìThe ratio of new job ads to applications for those jobs jumped by 9.0% in December, signalling the extent to which the market tightened at the end of the 2005.

ìThe growth in new job ads evident in NSW and Victoria in November 2005 continued in December, with new ads posted increasing in these States by 2.8% and 2.1% respectively. However, the strongest job growth continues to be fuelled by the resources boom in Queensland and Western Australia where new ads rose by 12.8% and 8.8% respectively and we expect this to continue into 2006î, he said.

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