ANZ Australia Total Job Ads Rise 4.1% In Aug Vs Jul

SYDNEY -- The total number of job advertisements in Australian newspapers and on the Internet rose 4.1% in seasonally adjusted terms in August from the previous month, to an average of 130,326 ads per week.

It was the first rise in job ads since April 2008. Total job ads were 48.1% down from a year, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which compiles the data from major newspapers, said Monday.

The number of Internet job advertisements rose 4.0% in August from July, contributing to an annual decline of 48.4% in seasonally adjusted terms.

Job advertisements in newspapers in Australia rose 5.5% in August from July contributing to a 43.1% annual increase in seasonally adjusted terms.

ANZ's acting chief executive Warren Hogan said he expects to see some continued deterioration in the labor market, due to the very low level of demand for new labor, some residual job shedding and continuing strong growth in labor supply.

Despite the improvement in the job ads series, ANZ expects employment to have fallen by around 15,000 in August and the unemployment rate to have risen to 6% when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its labor force numbers for August this Thursday.