Demand for labour remains high in Western Australia despite a fall in newspaper job advertisements in June.
Demand for labour remains high in Western Australia despite a fall in newspaper job advertisements in June.
According to the latest ANZ job advertisements series, there was a 3.8 per cent (seasonally adjusted) decline in newspaper job advertisements for June in Western Australia, from 4,321 in May to 4,157 in June.
Nationally, there was a seasonally adjusted fall of 3.2 per cent to an average of 20,167 per week, which is 2.7 per cent lower than June last year. Last month’s figures follow a rise of 7.7 per cent in May.
The survey revealed a fall in newspaper job advertisements in all states for June.
ANZ head of Australian economics, Tony Pearson, said the newspaper job advertise-ments series showed there continued to be significant differences in the demand for labour between the states.
“Conditions remain the most buoyant in Western Australia, and also solid in the Northern Territory and in the Australian Capital Territory,” he said.
Mr Pearson said demand for labour appeared to be falling the fastest in Queensland, dropping 6.5 per cent on May figures, which he believed was surprising given the buoyant economic conditions experienced in that state.
The survey showed the number of internet job ads grew by 4.1 per cent to an average of 162,878 per week in June, following a fall of 2.6 per cent in May, in seasonally adjusted terms.
In trend terms, the number of internet job ads rose by 0.6 per cent.
The total number of newspaper and internet job ads increased by 3.2 per cent in June to an average of 183,044 per week, in seasonally adjusted terms.
However the fall in newspaper job advertisements shouldn’t have an adverse effect on the demand for labour in WA. The latest quarterly analysis released by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of WA expects the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5 per cent – the lowest jobless rate recorded in the state for 35 years.
CCIWA chief economist John Nicolaou said the Western Australian business sector was working to increase capacity through higher employment and investment in new buildings, structure, plant and equipment.
“There is a record level of job vacancies which businesses are finding difficult to fill and this is fuelling increased wage demands and forcing delays in the completion of works – from large-scale resource projects right through to family home renovations,” he said in a statement.
According to the latest Dun and Bradstreet national business expectations report, employ-ment expectations were down four points to an index of minus two with 12 per cent of those surveyed expecting an increase in staff, and 12 per cent expecting a reduction.
This compares with the CCI-BankWest survey of business expectations for the June 2006 quarter, which revealed recruitment activity in WA remained a priority now and in the future for those surveyed. More than 35 per cent of those surveyed intend to hire more staff this quarter and more than 40 per cent intend to employ more staff in the next quarter.
