Victoria has become the hardest place on the mainland to find a job. The latest vacancy count from the Australian Bureau of Statistics puts the chance of an unemployed Victorian landing a vacant job in the state at close to one in nine.

That means there are about nine unemployed Victorians scrambling for each vacant job.

The number of Victorian vacancies shrank from 30,700 to 25,400 between November and February, making Victoria the only state to record an appreciable loss. Nationally the number of vacancies climbed from 140,900 to 143,600.

The ABS survey is Australia's most comprehensive. It surveys employers rather than counts published advertisements and so is unaffected by changes in the way positions are filled and advertised.