An increase in job advertising last month is further evidence for agents that the Australian economy is on the road to recovery.
The total number of jobs advertised in the major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet has risen for the first time since April 2008, the latest ANZ Job Advertisements Series has revealed.
According to the Series, total advertisements grew 4.1 per cent in August to a weekly average of 130,326 per week.
The rise in advertisements follows a 1.7 per cent drop in July.
Even with the rise however, the total number of job advertisements in August was still 48.1 per cent lower than 12 months earlier.
According to ANZ acting chief economist Warren Hogan, employment is expected to fall by around 15,000 in August – which should force the unemployment rate to rise to 6 per cent.
“While we do expect the unemployment rate to rise, these numbers confirm our optimism that the pace of decline in employment will not be as severe as envisaged six months ago,” Mr Hogan said.
“We now expect the Australian unemployment rate to peak at around 7.25 per cent in mid 2010.”