ANZ job ads pause after a strong run

KEY POINTS 

• ANZ Australian Job Advertisements was flat (0.0% m/m) in March, after easing slightly (-0.4%) in February. The number of job ads currently sits 11.5% higher than a year ago.
• In trend terms, job ads were up 0.8% m/m in March, edging down from a 0.9% rise in the previous month. The annual trend rate slowed from 12.2% in February to 11.8% last month.

ANZ’S HEAD OF AUSTRALIAN ECONOMICS, DAVID PLANK, COMMENTED:

“Despite ANZ Job Ads easing slightly in the past two months, the strong January result means that job ads are up 4.4% q/q in Q1. Interestingly, after a period of employment growth overshooting growth in job ads, the two series appear to be converging once more.

Despite the recent stability in ANZ Job Ads, the labour market remains robust. The level of job ads is consistent with continued strength in employment growth, though we do expect some slowdown in the pace in which jobs are added. Businesses reported record conditions in February and the uptrend in capacity utilisation suggests that the unemployment rate will slowly grind lower through the year. The recent uptick in the unemployment and underemployment rate, however, shows that spare capacity is reducing only gradually indicating that wage growth is likely to remain muted for some time yet.”