August Sees Job Vacancy Reductions Across 11 Industries, ABS Reports

Eleven of the 18 industries analysed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) saw a decline in job vacancies in August, according to its latest report.
The most significant quarterly percentage falls were reported from accommodation and food dervices (-17.2 percent) and manufacturing (-9.9 percent).
According to the inflation numbers released by the ABS a day before, the food sector has not improved due to factors like poor weather conditions and diseases that negatively impacted crop yields, affecting items like strawberries, grapes, broccoli, and cucumbers.
Meanwhile, the strongest quarterly percentage rises in job vacancies were reported in sectors such as transport, postal, and warehousing (14.9 percent) and arts and recreation services (7.1 percent).
However, despite the quarterly growth in August 2024, job vacancies in both industries were still lower than a year ago. These sectors also showed growth in the ABS inflation data.
Across Australia, there were 330,000 job vacancies in August 2024, down by 18,000 from May.
David Taylor, ABS Head of Labour Statistics, said: “The number of job vacancies in August 2024 fell by 5.2 percent, following a 3.5 percent fall in May 2024. The gradual decline in job vacancies continued, with the quarterly fall in August 2024 being the ninth in a row and vacancies now well below the series peak of 473,000 in May 2022.”
Sarah Hunter, Assistant Governor (Economic) at the Reserve Bank of Australia, in a keynote delivered on Sept. 11, said the labour market is operating above full employment but has moved towards better balance since late 2022.
She also suggested that while job vacancies are declining, this does not necessarily mean a sharp rise in unemployment is imminent due to the existing balance between job openings and the unemployed.
Taylor explained that while the number of job vacancies has fallen over the past two years, they remain 45.1 percent higher, or 102,000 more, than before the COVID-19 pandemic.