SEEK has released its November labour market data, which contains both positives and negatives.
SEEK reported a 0.5% decline in job ads over the month of November. Job ads were also down 0.9% over the quarter and 1.9% year-on-year.
However, the number of applications per job ad held stable at a historically high level.
The following chart plots SEEK’s job ad series against the ABS headline unemployment rate and points to an ongoing gradual softening.
“This year has been a tale of two halves—the first six months demonstrated small but important growth after many months of decline, and then, since August, we have seen incremental drops month-on-month”, noted SEEK senior economist Blair Chapman.
“Applications per job ad, which have also stabilised since mid-year, continue to be elevated, so the market remains very competitive for candidates as job ads slow for the Christmas break”.
Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro has plotted the various job ads/vacancy series together, with all telling a similar story of a softening labour market:
In better news, SEEK’s advertised salaries index has firmed, rising 0.4% in November to be 1.0% higher over the quarter and 3.8% year-on-year:
The following chart from Justin Fabo plots SEEK’s series against the ABS wage price index:
