SEEK job ads down by 8.6% in August 2019

Overview of August 2019: STATE OF THE NATION: SEEK job ads are down by 8.6% y/y Average advertised salary is up by 3.0% y/y Sectors with the highest job ad growth include: Community Services & Development (13.0%), Education & Training (12.1%) and Healthcare & Medical (4.6%) The top four industries showing salary growth include: Consulting & Strategy (5.0%), Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (4.5%) and Education & Training (4.1%) STATE OF THE STATES: Most states are seeing job ad growth in the regions and decline in the cities, except NSW and NT which is showing decline in both areas All states are showing a decline in job ad volume except ACT (3.2%) and WA (0.6%) Majority of states show an increase in salary with Tasmania (6.4%) and South Australia (5.0%) leading the growth y/y

STATE OF THE NATION

The latest SEEK Employment Report shows a decline of 8.6% in jobs advertised (August, 2019 vs August, 2018).

Community Services & Development (13.0%) lead as the sector with the highest job ad growth for August, 2019 (vs. August 2018), followed by Education & Training (12.1%) and Healthcare & Medical (4.6%).

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ comments: “Australia’s GDP growth is at the lowest level since 2009, driven by weaker private sector investment.  Low consumer spending is having a direct impact on business spending, with many companies tightening their budgets, which can include a restriction or freeze on hiring. This can be seen across the country with the visible reduction of new job opportunities (8.6% decline in job ads in August, 2019).

However, the recent government spending across industries such as disability, health and aged care services continues to see a healthy employment growth specifically in these sectors, shown by SEEKs 4.6% job ad growth in Healthcare & Medical roles.” 

STATE OF THE NATION: METRO VS. REGIONAL

Compared to this time last year all capital cities, with the exception of Perth, are showing a decline in job ad volumes, whereas regional and outer suburbs are showing an increase.

Kendra Banks explains further: “It is interesting to see that the regional areas are generally faring better during the current economic slowdown. Victoria’s regional unemployment in particular is at an all-time low, which has been helped by previous state government decisions to locate a number of government agency roles into regional areas. Examples of this include ‘WorkSafe’ agency who has moved to Geelong and Vic Roads who have opened its regional roads bureau in Ballarat.” 

Table 1: Metro and regional job ad change (August 2019 vs. August 2018)

STATE OF THE NATION: SALARY

The average advertised salary across Australia was up 3.0% compared to last year (Aug, 2019). Salaries grew across all states except ACT (-1.1%), with Tasmania (6.4%) and South Australia (5.0%) leading the way followed by QLD (4.0%) and VIC (3.3%).

Table 2: Average Advertised Salaries Seasonally Adjusted (August 2019 vs. August 2018)

Figure 1: National SEEK Job Ad growth by state (August 2019 vs. August 2018)

Figure 2: National SEEK Job Ad growth by industry (August 2019 vs. August 2018)

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