SYDNEY (Reuters) – Job vacancies in Australia fell from a record high in the August quarter as private sector jobs were filled, but job openings remained more than double their pre-pandemic levels and nearly matched the number of unemployed match.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Thursday showed the vacancy rate fell 2.1 per cent from the previous quarter in the three months to August to 470,900.
still higher than the same period 10.8% last year, When pandemic lockdowns prevailed.
Hiring this year exceeded all expectations, pushing the unemployment rate down to a near-low 50 year at 3.5%.
“Similar numbers of unemployed (488,10) to August Vacancies(471,) 2022 , while before the pandemic started, the number of unemployed was three times the number of vacancies,” Lauren Ford, head of ABS Labs, said in your statistics.
The strength of the labour market is one of the reasons the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has raised interest rates five times since May-2. 35%, and is considered likely to raise interest rates by 50 basis points at next week’s October policy meeting.
Data on Thursday showed private sector vacancies fell 3.3% in the August quarter, offsetting the current quarter 14% before a substantial increase. Job openings in the public sector grew 10.5%.
Health and social assistance positions have the highest number of vacancies, followed by accommodation and food sectors, retail and scientific and professional sectors.
