ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads rose 2.2% m/m in September after August’s increase was revised up marginally to 2.6% m/m. In trend terms, the series lifted 2.0% m/m and is up 12.3% in annual terms.
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ANZ Senior Economist, Jasmine Zheng, commented:
ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads rose 2.2% m/m in September, leaving the series 12.9% higher over the year. The Job Ads series is 24.4% above its 2010s average and has been resilient through the RBA’s rate hiking cycle. However, labour market conditions typically respond to softer economic activity with a lag. As the impact of higher interest rates continues to flow through to the economy, we expect economic momentum and labour demand to slow. As a result, we anticipate Job Ads will gradually trend lower over the coming months.
The August labour force data were mixed. The unemployment rate lifted to 4.6%, but employment increased by 39.5k. Hours worked also increased 0.7% m/m. The ABS cautioned that the transition to the new Labour Force Survey collection model may have an “unintended impact on August 2026 estimates”. Despite this uncertainty, we continue to expect an easing in labour market conditions. We expect the unemployment rate to gradually drift higher over the months ahead, although the rise is likely to be modest given the resilience in the Job Ads series.1
