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FOLLOWING a rocky end to the financial year, the employment market has once again a boost as ANZ economists reveal a jump in the number of job listings posted nationally in August.
Job advertisements bounced a solid 1.8 per cent to more than 160,000, despite a steep drop recorded for the previous month of July.
While this slump may have sapped momentum from the first half of the year, ANZ head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett says the road ahead looks promising.
"The bounce in ANZ job ads in August is an encouraging sign that the improvement in labour market conditions is continuing," says Emmett.
"The rise in job ads is consistent with the ongoing strength in business conditions and increasing capacity utilisation reported in the business surveys."
Emmett says that even though the current spike doesn't herald a rapid turnaround in the unemployment rate, the figures point toward a trend of moderate and ongoing growth.
She also expects improved conditions and interest rates will buoy the job market throughout the next year.
"The pace of improvement in job ads suggests that market conditions are improving moderately," she says.
"At current levels, the rate of job ads growth is consistent with employment growing at an annual pace of close to 2 per cent year on year.
"Overall, this is consistent with our view that the unemployment rate will slowly improve over the next year, supported by low interest rates and solid business conditions."
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