-- The ANZ-Indeed Australian job ads fell 0.8% month on month in April to a seasonally adjusted 113.3, following a revised 3.2% decrease to 114.2 in March, ANZ reported Monday.
ANZ economist Aaron Luk noted that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3% in March, suggesting labor market conditions remain "tight" but are not as strong as earlier in the year when unemployment fell to 4.1%, likely prompting the Reserve Bank of Australia to soften its recent assessment.
Labor market conditions are expected to soften in the coming months as higher interest rates and rising global uncertainty reduce demand for workers, with the unemployment rate forecast to average 4.5% by the final quarter of the year, Luk added.
Indeed senior economist Callam Pickering said that the decline in the job market in April was driven by sharp drops in food preparation, education, installation and maintenance, and retail roles, while the tech sector remained strong despite concerns about the adoption of artificial intelligence.
Regionally, weaker demand in New South Wales and Victoria dragged down the national total, while South Australia saw gains and Western Australia continued to show the strongest labor demand over the past year, Pickering added.
Compared with the year-earlier period, job ads fell 1.4% in April, per the report.