Growing evidence shows the Reserve Bank’s aggressive string of interest rate rises is hitting the job market harder than expected, with a sharp fall in new ads and a spike in the number of people fighting to fill those on offer.
SEEK’s measure of job advertisements fell by 4.7 per cent in April, the largest monthly decline since October. Total ads are down 18.6 per cent over the past 12 months.
Job ads continue to fall, while the number of people applying for work is climbing.Credit: Louise Kennerley
The largest drop in ads last month was in the ACT (down 11.5 per cent). They slipped by 4.1 per cent in Victoria, 5.7 per cent in NSW, 3.1 per cent in Queensland and 3.8 per cent in Western Australia.
Over the past 12 months, ads have fallen by more than 24 per cent in both NSW and Victoria – the two states with the largest average mortgages in the country – and are down in all other states and territories.
Ads fell in every occupational sector tracked by SEEK bar insurance and superannuation, which climbed by 3.6 per cent last month.
Ads in areas sensitive to interest rate movements such as hospitality and tourism (down 6.5 per cent), retail and consumer products (down 5.6 per cent), sales (down 3.8 per cent) and sport and recreation (down 3.2 per cent) all fell.
The largest decline, of 12.5 per cent, was in the small science and technology sector, while ads across information and communication technology slipped by 10.8 per cent.
Despite recent falls, ads in some sectors are still much higher than their pre-COVID levels. These include trades and services, up 36.5 per cent on April 2019, and manufacturing, transport and logistics (up by 3.4 per cent).
It’s not just the total number of ads that suggest the job market is slowing.