SEEK job ads grow by 0.6% in January 2019

STATE OF THE NATION:

• Overview of January 2019 (vs January 2018):
  • SEEK jobs ads are up by 0.6 percent
  • Average advertised salary up by 2.5 percent
• The top three industry drivers of job ad growth are Mining, Resources & Energy, Government & Defence and Healthcare & Medical

STATE OF THE STATES:

• Tasmania (+18.8%) and Western Australia (+5.3%) continue to show the strongest growth in new job ads
• Salaries in Northern Territory and Western Australia up by nearly 5 percent

STATE OF THE NATION: REVIEWING AUSTRALIAN EMPLOYMENT MARKET

The latest SEEK Employment Report data shows that new job ads picked up in January with a modest growth rate of 0.6 percent (y/y). Advertised salaries also experienced a growth rate of 2.5 percent respectively.

Mining, Resources & Energy continue to outperform a number of industries in Australia with new job ads up by 21.7 percent (compared to January 2018). In addition, salaries for the mining sector have been steadily increasing year on year, with a 4.5 percent increase already in 2019.

Public sector job roles in Government & Defence (+19.2 percent) and Healthcare & Medical (+14.4 percent) were the second and third strongest contributors to the employment market, demonstrating a rising trend for job ads in these sectors.

The states and territories with the highest job ad growth for Government & Defence were the Northern Territory (67.9 percent), Tasmania (64.1 percent) and the ACT (61.8 percent). For Healthcare & Medical, the top states and territories for job ad growth were NSW (29.2 percent), Tasmania (24.1 percent) and the ACT (22.4 percent).

Science & Technology also continues to be a strong contributor to job ad growth across the nation with a 12.8 percent increase when compared to last year.

While several industries experienced steady growth in January, the month also saw a decline in job ads for Construction (-14.1 percent), Design & Architecture (-13.7 percent) and Advertising, Arts & Media (-12.6 percent).

The majority of the states and territories (four out of seven) experienced growth for job ads, however, NSW (the state with the largest labour force), was one of the states with a small decline (-1.1 percent).

Kendra Banks, Managing Director, SEEK ANZ comments: “2019 is off to a steady start showing growth in job ads compared to this time last year. We continue to maintain steady and consistent growth for new job ads and advertised salaries.

“When we look at the diverse range of industries, it comes as no surprise that the mining sector still continues to dominate the employment market. However, it is interesting to see the increased demand in job roles for the public sector, particularly for Government & Defence candidates.

“This month also saw International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11th February) something we at SEEK are an advocate for. Our data shows that women make up nearly half (49%) of those who express interest in Science and Technology related roles, with job ads for these roles increasing year on year.

An additional insight we’ve seen, is that overall, 27% of women have expressed an interest in STEM job roles, which is an increase of 3% since 2015.” 

Figure 1: Job ad growth in Australia by state (January 2018 vs. January 2019)

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

Table 1: Salaries Seasonally Adjusted

NOTE: When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attribute SEEK as the source.

Download Employment Report data

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