More people applying for less jobs

And it seems many businesses are giving up on recruiting new workers with the national job ads falling 2.5 per cent in December and more than 8 per cent from 12 months ago.

Victoria recorded the biggest decline in job ads, down 5.2 per cent, followed by NSW (3.4 per cent) then Western Australia and South Australia. The Northern Territory and Tasmania remained relatively steady with falls of 0.5 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Year-on-year, Victoria’s drop was a staggering 13 per cent, while the ACT had 13.7 per cent less job ads in December 2022 compared to December 2021. Queensland’s data showed its job ads declined only 0.8 per cent in the 12 months.

Accountants are suffering one of the biggest declines in job ads, down 6.3 per cent from November to December 2022, although year-on-year, there was a 0.8 per cent increase in firms looking for new staff.

Despite December being the biggest month on the retail calendar, job ads in that sector dropped 7 per cent, while information and communication technology fell 7.1 per cent.

Hospitality and tourism also suffered a fall despite December historically being one of its busiest months with people taking Christmas holiday breaks, with job ads decreasing 5.5 per cent from November. Its year-on-year data revealed a 26.4 per cent drop in job ads.

The only sector that saw a rise in job ads over the year was education and training, with a 3.9 per cent increase, reflecting the national teacher shortage over the past 12 months and schools trying to recruit staff in readiness for the new school year.