Job Growth Struggles to Keep Up with Market

Job growth has failed to keep up with the number of Australians entering the employment market in 2011.

Employment figures released by the Federal Government show jobs growing at an annualised trend rate of just 0.6%, or 10,000 jobs a month, while the labour force grew by 289,000 this year. There were a total of 138,000 positions created in 2011, well below the rate anticipated in the Federal budget which forecasted half a million new jobs for 2011-12.

No surprises that mining is the fastest growing sector as investment in the mining sector soars, but export based mining accounts for only 1.5% of employment in Australia.

On the other hand, real estate is a much larger sector and recorded continued jobs growth in Melbourne and across the country.

The SEEK count of online job advertisements shows a fall 2.8% in October, the third consecutive fall, driven in part by number of applicants per job falling 1.9%. This suggests employers are finding it harder to find suitable candidates.