Australia job advertisements fall 2.9 per cent in Nov: survey

Australia job advertisements fall 2.9 per cent in Nov: survey
PHOTO: Australia job advertisements fall 2.9 per cent in Nov: survey

SYDNEY - Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet fell 2.9 per cent in November, the eighth straight month of decline that pointed to softer labour demand and added to the case for a cut in interest rates this week.

A survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group showed total job advertisements fell a seasonally adjusted 2.9 per cent to 138,376 in November, following a drop of 4.6 per cent the month before. That was down 16.7 per cent from November last year.

Job ads on the Internet fell 2.8 per cent to 132,820 in November, from the month before, to be down 16 per cent on the year. Newspapers ads dropped 4.6 per cent, continuing a long-run shift away from newspapers toward Internet ads.

"The trend in job advertising has continued to deteriorate,"said ANZ's head of Australian economics, Ivan Colhoun. "The weakness in job advertisements across the mining states of Western Australia and Queensland has been particularly concerning."

A cooling in the country's mining boom is a major reason analysts believe the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is likely to cut interest rates at its monthly policy meeting on Tuesday.

"Further monetary easing is necessary to assist the economy in its transition towards a lower dependence on mining investment growth," said Colhoun.

He warned that without further easing, the unemployment rate could rise towards 6 per cent by the end of 2013, from the current 5.4 per cent.

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