There were 364,000 job vacancies in February 2024, down 24,000 from November, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: “The number of job vacancies fell by 6.1 per cent between November 2023 and February 2024.
“The drop in February followed a small fall of 0.8 per cent in November 2023 and was the seventh quarterly drop in a row.
“Job vacancies are now 23.5 per cent lower than they were at their peak in May 2022. However, they remain well above the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level and are still 59.8 per cent higher than February 2020, or around 136,000 more vacancies.
“The latest Labour Account data also showed that job vacancies continue to make up a much higher proportion of jobs in the labour market than we would typically see. In the December quarter 2023, they were 2.4 per cent of all jobs, compared with around 1.6 per cent during 2019.”
| Job vacancies (‘000) | |
|---|---|
| Feb-80 | 40.6 |
| May-80 | 36.7 |
| Aug-80 | 37.5 |
| Nov-80 | 38.7 |
| Feb-81 | 37.4 |
| May-81 | 44.0 |
| Aug-81 | 44.5 |
| Nov-81 | 41.7 |
| Feb-82 | 37.3 |
| May-82 | 30.3 |
| Aug-82 | 26.8 |
| Nov-82 | 30.3 |
| Feb-83 | 29.7 |
| May-83 | 32.4 |
| Aug-83 | 33.6 |
| Nov-83 | 36.3 |
| Feb-84 | 44.6 |
| May-84 | 40.3 |
| Aug-84 | 48.5 |
| Nov-84 | 49.8 |
| Feb-85 | 60.4 |
| May-85 | 68.6 |
| Aug-85 | 67.2 |
| Nov-85 | 66.2 |
| Feb-86 | 64.8 |
| May-86 | 66.1 |
| Aug-86 | 61.1 |
| Nov-86 | 66.3 |
| Feb-87 | 69.5 |
| May-87 | 66.9 |
| Aug-87 | 70.1 |
| Nov-87 | 66.9 |
| Feb-88 | 70.2 |
| May-88 | 74.4 |
| Aug-88 | 80.8 |
| Nov-88 | 85.1 |
| Feb-89 | 84.7 |
| May-89 | 93.7 |
| Aug-89 | 76.6 |
| Nov-89 | 79.2 |
| Feb-90 | 71.9 |
| May-90 | 64.0 |
| Aug-90 | 56.7 |
| Nov-90 | 41.6 |
| Feb-91 | 33.8 |
| May-91 | 31.6 |
| Aug-91 | 29.8 |
| Nov-91 | 30.9 |
| Feb-92 | 33.3 |
| May-92 | 31.9 |
| Aug-92 | 33.0 |
| Nov-92 | 36.9 |
| Feb-93 | 37.0 |
| May-93 | 42.0 |
| Aug-93 | 46.2 |
| Nov-93 | 48.5 |
| Feb-94 | 57.6 |
| May-94 | 69.5 |
| Aug-94 | 82.2 |
| Nov-94 | 85.6 |
| Feb-95 | 72.7 |
| May-95 | 77.3 |
| Aug-95 | 74.6 |
| Nov-95 | 72.5 |
| Feb-96 | 81.0 |
| May-96 | 76.7 |
| Aug-96 | 77.5 |
| Nov-96 | 82.5 |
| Feb-97 | 81.3 |
| May-97 | 82.8 |
| Aug-97 | 84.9 |
| Nov-97 | 90.4 |
| Feb-98 | 98.3 |
| May-98 | 104.0 |
| Aug-98 | 89.8 |
| Nov-98 | 102.0 |
| Feb-99 | 87.2 |
| May-99 | 100.2 |
| Aug-99 | 106.9 |
| Nov-99 | 109.6 |
| Feb-00 | 118.1 |
| May-00 | 115.9 |
| Aug-00 | 114.4 |
| Nov-00 | 114.8 |
| Feb-01 | 99.7 |
| May-01 | 94.0 |
| Aug-01 | 90.2 |
| Nov-01 | 88.5 |
| Feb-02 | 90.5 |
| May-02 | 96.2 |
| Aug-02 | 103.0 |
| Nov-02 | 97.6 |
| Feb-03 | 109.7 |
| May-03 | 104.6 |
| Aug-03 | 104.1 |
| Nov-03 | 107.5 |
| Feb-04 | 103.8 |
| May-04 | 127.1 |
| Aug-04 | 124.6 |
| Nov-04 | 139.2 |
| Feb-05 | 146.2 |
| May-05 | 140.9 |
| Aug-05 | 139.0 |
| Nov-05 | 134.1 |
| Feb-06 | 144.3 |
| May-06 | 154.1 |
| Aug-06 | 154.9 |
| Nov-06 | 162.1 |
| Feb-07 | 160.8 |
| May-07 | 168.6 |
| Aug-07 | 173.3 |
| Nov-07 | 183.3 |
| Feb-08 | 178.2 |
| May-08 | 184.5 |
| Aug-08 | na |
| Nov-08 | na |
| Feb-09 | na |
| May-09 | na |
| Aug-09 | na |
| Nov-09 | 148.9 |
| Feb-10 | 168.4 |
| May-10 | 170.3 |
| Aug-10 | 178.6 |
| Nov-10 | 191.1 |
| Feb-11 | 189.4 |
| May-11 | 187.3 |
| Aug-11 | 183.4 |
| Nov-11 | 179.3 |
| Feb-12 | 181.8 |
| May-12 | 178.1 |
| Aug-12 | 175.3 |
| Nov-12 | 164.8 |
| Feb-13 | 149.8 |
| May-13 | 143.5 |
| Aug-13 | 140.6 |
| Nov-13 | 138.9 |
| Feb-14 | 143.2 |
| May-14 | 147.4 |
| Aug-14 | 146.6 |
| Nov-14 | 149.7 |
| Feb-15 | 151.9 |
| May-15 | 157.9 |
| Aug-15 | 161.5 |
| Nov-15 | 167.4 |
| Feb-16 | 172.2 |
| May-16 | 171.4 |
| Aug-16 | 177.1 |
| Nov-16 | 182.4 |
| Feb-17 | 185.1 |
| May-17 | 185.9 |
| Aug-17 | 200.0 |
| Nov-17 | 205.1 |
| Feb-18 | 213.1 |
| May-18 | 223.6 |
| Aug-18 | 226.9 |
| Nov-18 | 232.4 |
| Feb-19 | 232.6 |
| May-19 | 227.3 |
| Aug-19 | 221.5 |
| Nov-19 | 230.6 |
| Feb-20 | 227.7 |
| May-20 | 128.5 |
| Aug-20 | 202.7 |
| Nov-20 | 260.1 |
| Feb-21 | 288.7 |
| May-21 | 367.4 |
| Aug-21 | 326.8 |
| Nov-21 | 407.2 |
| Feb-22 | 424.9 |
| May-22 | 475.4 |
| Aug-22 | 459.9 |
| Nov-22 | 453.1 |
| Feb-23 | 442.3 |
| May-23 | 426.2 |
| Aug-23 | 390.4 |
| Nov-23 | 387.4 |
| Feb-24 | 363.8 |
The Job Vacancies Survey was suspended between August 2008 to August 2009 (inclusive).
The decline in job vacancies was seen across many industries. The strongest quarterly percentage falls were in Arts and recreation services (-33.2 per cent) and Public administration and safety (-20.2 per cent).
There were some industries that recorded growth in job vacancies over the quarter. The strongest percentage rises were in Rental, hiring and real estate (20.7 per cent) and Financial and insurance services (17.9 per cent).
Job vacancies in many industries remained high compared with pre-pandemic levels. This continued to be 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 | 143.1 |
| Accommodation and food services | 138.1 |
| Health care and social assistance | 118.4 |
| Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 117.9 |
| Education and training | 102.2 |
| Manufacturing | 90.5 |
| Rental, hiring and real estate services | 79.7 |
| Retail trade | 69.8 |
| Construction | 67.8 |
| Mining | 63.1 |
| Public administration and safety | 43.3 |
| Transport, postal and warehousing | 34.4 |
| Other services | 33.5 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | 31.6 |
| Wholesale trade | 27.9 |
| Information media and telecommunications | 4.7 |
| Financial and insurance services | -1.6 |
| Administrative and support services | -3.7 |
Job vacancies dropped by 6.1 per cent over the three months to February in both the public (-3,000) and private sectors (-21,000).
There were also falls in job vacancies in most states and territories over the same time. Queensland saw the largest percentage drop (-11.1 per cent) followed by New South Wales (-10.0 per cent). The largest rise was in South Australia (8.0 per cent).
The ABS would like to thank businesses in Australia for their continued support in responding to our surveys.
