SEEK released its Employment Report for August, which revealed that the number of job ads rose 0.3% over the month, the second consecutive monthly rise.
However, the number of applicants per job ad also rose by 0.5% in July (once month lagged) and is now tracking at its second highest level on record behind May 2020 at the start of the pandemic:
The following charts plot SEEK’s data against the nation’s unemployment rate, which was 4.2% in July:
Jobs & Skills Australia (JSA) also released its Internet Vacancy Index (IVI), which recorded a 4.8% (or 10,600) increase in job advertisements in August.
The following chart from Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro plots the IVI index against Australia’s unemployment rate in July:
Not surprisingly, when compared to 2019 levels, job ads in Australia grown the most in community & personal services (think NDIS & aged care):
This was also reflected in the Q2 Labour Market Account from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which revealed that government-funded jobs grew by 268,000 in 2023-24, versus only 33,000 new jobs across the market-based sector:
The below chart from CBA also shows that Australia’s healthcare & social assistance jobs have expanded at a far greater pace than other nations on the back of NDIS and aged care spending:
In short, the caring sector is driving the Australian labour market and economy.
Later this morning, the ABS will release the August labour market survey.
