NAB/SEEK: June New Job Ads Decline, But Remain Very Elevated

The latest NAB/SEEK employment report notes that “new job ads fell -2.1% M/M in June, the first M/M decline since December 2021. June’s decline is from record levels, and it is too early to conclude that it is a signal of a turning point in the very strong labour demand backdrop. One industry though which perhaps is signalling a turning point is ‘hospitality & tourism’ where job ads have stabilised at extremely elevated levels since March 2022. Overall job ads though remain well above pre-pandemic levels (+71.9%) and for ‘hospitality & tourism’ are 160.3% above pre-pandemic levels. Declines in the month were broad based across states. Mirroring growth in ABS job vacancies data for May that saw increasing demand for workers in customer facing roles, last month’s data saw large increases in both retail (+11% in May) and hospitality & tourism (+6% in May). That strength unwound in June, with retail and hospitality down 6% and 9% respectively. Relative to pre-pandemic levels, hospitality & tourism and farming & agriculture remain the top industries for job ads growth. Candidate availability (reported with a one-month lag) declined again in May (-5%) continuing to point to a still-tightening labour market. The number of applicants per ad was down another 36% from May 2021 levels.”