By James Glynn
SYDNEY--Job advertising in Australia recorded a fifth straight monthly decline in June, indicating that the labor market could be weakening faster than many economists had expected.
According to a survey by ANZ and employment portal Indeed, job ads declined 2.2% in June from May.
While job ads have fallen 25.8% from their peak in June 2022, the series is still 17.8% above prepandemic levels.
The weakness in the data is in line with a sharp slowdown in the economy this year.
Still, there remains a significant risk that the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates further in the coming months, given that recent inflation data has consistently exceeded expectations.
The minutes of the RBA's June policy meeting on Tuesday are expected to reaffirm that the central bank remains open to all policy options and discussed a further hike last month.
The pace of declines in job ads has intensified, with the series down 7.1% quarter over quarter in the second quarter compared with 3.0% in the prior quarter, said Madeline Dunk, economist at ANZ.
"We're seeing a similar story in other parts of the labor market, with indicators easing from strong starting positions," she said.
So far, a lot of the adjustment in the labor market has been through hours worked. The hours-based underutilization rate rose to 5.3% in the second quarter from its low of 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Dunk said.
"We think the pace of unemployment growth will slow from here. That said, we only expect a modest lift in the unemployment rate to 4.3%," she said.
Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-30-24 2351ET
