There were 390,000 job vacancies in August 2023, down 38,000 from May, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Kate Lamb, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “The number of job vacancies fell by around 9 per cent between May and August, and has dropped by 18 per cent from the peak in May 2022.
“Demand for workers eased again in August for the fifth straight quarter. This coincided with an increase in the unemployment rate over the three months to August.
“While these indicators are no longer at historical levels, both are still showing that the labour market is tighter than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Job vacancies were still around 72 per cent higher than they were in February 2020. That’s still around 160,000 more jobs that employers are looking for people to fill, as part of a pool of almost 400,000 vacancies.
“The percentage of businesses reporting at least one vacancy also fell from 25 per cent in May to 22 per cent in August. However, this was still double what it was in February 2020 at 11 per cent,” Ms Lamb said.
| Proportion (%) | |
|---|---|
| Feb-20 | 11.0 |
| May-20 | 6.5 |
| Aug-20 | 12.1 |
| Nov-20 | 14.7 |
| Feb-21 | 18.1 |
| May-21 | 22.0 |
| Aug-21 | 20.3 |
| Nov-21 | 20.7 |
| Feb-22 | 23.5 |
| May-22 | 25.2 |
| Aug-22 | 26.7 |
| Nov-22 | 27.7 |
| Feb-23 | 24.3 |
| May-23 | 24.7 |
| Aug-23 | 21.7 |
Job vacancies in both public and private sectors declined over the three months to August. Public sector vacancies fell by 3,000 (-6 per cent) while the private sector fell by 35,000 (-9 per cent).
The Australian Capital Territory saw the largest percentage drop in job vacancies (-8 per cent) while Queensland was the only state to see growth (4 per cent).
Financial and insurance services showed the largest drop in job vacancies (-15 per cent) this quarter. This is also the only industry to now have vacancies lower than they were in February 2020.
Some industries experienced growth in August. The largest increase in vacancies was in Retail trade which rose by 19 per cent. While most industries declined over this quarter, job vacancies in many industries remained high compared with pre-COVID levels. This was particularly pronounced in customer-facing industries, including Arts and recreation services, and Accommodation and food services.
| Industry | Change from before COVID-19 (%) |
|---|---|
| Arts and recreation services | 265.6 |
| Accommodation and food services | 181.0 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 131.5 |
| Health care and social assistance | 128.8 |
| Manufacturing | 104.8 |
| Retail trade | 103.8 |
| Education and training | 100.4 |
| Public administration and safety | 77.5 |
| Mining | 74.0 |
| Construction | 72.9 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 72.2 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 61.5 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 60.6 |
| Other services | 50.8 |
| Wholesale trade | 22.8 |
| Administrative and support services | 6.7 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 2.5 |
| Financial and insurance services | -5.2 |
The ABS would like to thank businesses in Australia for their continued support in responding to our surveys.
