Mounting evidence shows that the Federal Reserve's series of aggressive interest rate hikes is hitting the job market harder than expected, with a sharp decline in new advertising and a rise in the number of people struggling to fill adverts.
The SEEK measure of job postings fell 4.7 percent in April, the largest monthly decline since October. Total advertising is down 18.6% over the past 12 months.
Job advertisements continue to decline, while the number of job applicants is increasing.credit: Louise Kennerley
The largest drop in advertising last month was in the metropolitan area (11.5 percent). It fell by 4.1 per cent in Victoria, 5.7 per cent in New South Wales, 3.1 per cent in Queensland, and 3.8 per cent in Western Australia.
Over the past 12 months, listings have fallen by more than 24% in both New South Wales and Victoria, the two states with the highest average mortgages in the country, and have also fallen in all other states and territories.
Advertising fell across all professional sectors, followed by insurance and retirement, which rose 3.6 percent last month.
Advertising declined in areas sensitive to interest rate movements such as hospitality and tourism (-6.5%), retail and consumer products (-5.6%), sales (-3.8%), and sports and entertainment (-3.2%). .
The largest decline of 12.5% was in the science and technology subsector, while ICT advertising fell by 10.8%.
Despite recent declines, advertising in some sectors remains well above pre-Covid levels. These include trade and services, 36.5% more than in April 2019, and manufacturing, transportation and logistics (3.4% more).
It's not just the overall number of announcements that indicate a slowing job market.
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