ANZ’s Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, commented:

We had postulated that the gain in job ads in June and July was a consequence of the holiday and election-related weakness in May, rather than a sign of genuine recovery. The drop in job ads in August gives credence to that view. It is also consistent with other data, suggesting that the outlook for the labour market is softening. In particular, the NAB survey points to slowing employment growth. The sharp downturn in building activity isn’t likely to be helping either. The drop in ANZ Job Ads will, we think, add to “the accumulation of additional evidence” that the RBA will need to cut the cash rate again in October.

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