Australian Engineering Recruitment Market Still Growing

Despite encouraging signs in this week’s ABS figures (Unemployment dropped to 5.2% for November, and companies added 54,600 jobs), job seekers are warned to move quickly in their search for new employment according to the latest ANZ and Advantage job advert index reports that point to a softening of the jobs market.

The Advantage Job Index rose an impressive 3.38% in November, the fourth consecutive rise and the largest since May. That equates to an 8.94% rise for the quarter and job advertisements are now 26.85% above this time last year. While overall the number of jobs in November increased by 3.38%, the number of advertisements declined week by week signalling a slowing of the job market in the lead up to Christmas. Those thinking of changing jobs should act now. All the indicators suggest it will be a tighter job market early next year.

The biggest sector winners in the past month were transport (11.10%), engineering (9.10%) and legal (7.7%). Engineering and mining cements its position as the sector driving the economy recording a 46.44% increase in jobs in the past 12 months. And with a number of planned infrastructure projects for the coming year, this trend is set to continue. The best performer by state included: South Australia (8.68%), ACT (6.62%) and Western Australia (6.18%).

According to the ANZ Job Advertisement Series:
• Total job advertisements on the internet and in newspapers increased by 2.9% in November to be 33.2% higher than they were last November. The strength in annual job ads growth is most pronounced in Western Australia (+26.7% YoY).
• Newspaper job ads rose 0.9%, while internet job ads rose 3.0% in November.
• In trend terms, total job ads grew 1.1% MoM and 32.4% YoY.
ANZ Head of Australian Economics, Ivan Colhoun, says there remains an improving trend for job advertising in most notably WA, no doubt reflecting the re-emergence of the mining boom. The prior improvement in job advertising suggests that the Australian economy continues to create jobs. ANZ forecasts a 20,000 increase in employment in November and a drop in the unemployment rate. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' report on labour force released today, almost 55,000 new jobs were created in November and the unemployment rate has fallen back to 5.2%.

Excerpt compiled from: The ANZ Job Advertisement series (http://www.anz.com/), 6 December, and Advantage Job Index (http://www.hirethinking.com/), December 2010.