May-2023 | Quarterly Change | Annual Change | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
'000 | % | % | ||
Trend | Private sector | 385.0 | -2.6 | -4.5 |
Public sector | 47.2 | 0.4 | 13.8 | |
Private and public sectors | 432.2 | -2.2 | -2.8 | |
Seasonally Adjusted | Private sector | 384.6 | -2.3 | -12.2 |
Public sector | 47.0 | 0.3 | 14.1 | |
Private and public sectors | 431.6 | -2.0 | -10.0 | |
Original | Private sector | 367.7 | -7.3 | -12.4 |
Public sector | 47.1 | 3.1 | 14.1 | |
Private and public sectors | 414.8 | -6.2 | -10.0 |
Job Vacancies, Australia
Results of the quarterly Job Vacancies Survey containing estimates of job vacancies classified by industry, sector and state/territory.
Key statistics
Seasonally adjusted estimates for May 2023:
- Total job vacancies were 431,600, a decrease of 2.0% from February 2023.
- Private sector vacancies were 384,600, a decrease of 2.3% from February 2023.
- Public sector vacancies were 47,000, an increase of 0.3% from February 2023.
Survey impacts and changes
Reinstating trend estimates
Commencing with this issue, the ABS has reinstated Job Vacancies trend estimates (including for the entire COVID-19 period in the spreadsheets) and reverted to concurrent seasonal adjustment. However, the key figures and graphs in the Job Vacancies release will continue to focus on seasonally adjusted estimates. This will be reviewed for future releases. For further information, see Seasonal adjustment and trend estimates below.
Seasonal adjustment and trend estimates
The ABS suspended the publication of Job Vacancies trend estimates in May 2020, due to the large changes in the labour market during the COVID-19 period.
As suggested in A Guide to Interpreting Time Series, trend estimates are generally a better guide to the substantive movements in the series and are considered the best indicator of the underlying behaviour in the labour market. Given this, following extensive analysis of the time series, the ABS has now reinstated Job Vacancies trend estimates and reverted back to using the concurrent seasonal adjustment method (rather than using forward factors).
The ABS has also included the trend during the COVID-19 period in the spreadsheets in this release. However, given the large point-to-point changes for May 2020 to August 2022, the ABS recommends caution when using trend estimates during this period.
The ABS will undertake another review of the Job Vacancies seasonal adjustment and trend estimates in the Annual Seasonal Reanalysis in 2023. As part of this process, there may be larger than usual revisions, particularly for the May 2020 to August 2022 cycles.
Other measures of labour demand
In addition to Job Vacancies, there are a number of non-ABS indicators that measure labour demand using alternative concepts, sources and methods. These are also widely used as leading indicators of employment. Prominent examples include the ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads Index, the SEEK Employment Report, and Jobs and Skills Australia's Internet Vacancy Index.
Measures of job vacancies and job advertisements will differ for a number of reasons:
- Job vacancies includes jobs for which job advertisements are undertaken but also includes jobs where other recruitment approaches are exclusively used, such as word of mouth or social media. For example, jobs in the Accommodation and food services industry are more likely to be advertised on social media or in shop front signs. These jobs were one of the key drivers of the boom in job vacancies during the pandemic.
- Job vacancies is a count of every position advertised within a single notice, while some job advertisements may be used to fill multiple positions.
- Most job advertisement series collect the number of jobs advertised over a period of time, whereas job vacancies are measured on one particular day. The difference between these two measures could be exacerbated during a time of severe labour shortages. That is, if a job is vacant longer, there is more chance it will be vacant on the reference date, yet it would still only count for one job ad.
New approach for estimating the contribution of micro-employers
The ABS plans to introduce a model-based approach to account for the contribution of employers with less than 5 employees in job vacancies estimates, to reduce the quarterly response burden on these businesses. These employers are much less likely to have job vacancies, and analysis over the last five years has demonstrated that their contribution to estimates can be effectively modelled.
After implementing the model, the ABS plans to collect information from a full sample of micro-employers every eighth quarter, in order to review the performance of the model.
In the event of a major shock to the labour market (for example, a pandemic), a full sample would be run more frequently.
The ABS plans to implement the modelled approach later this year, along with additional methodological information.
Job vacancies over time
Job vacancies decreased by 2.0% (9,000 vacancies) in the three months to May 2023 (seasonally adjusted). The decline in job vacancies this quarter was driven by Accommodation and food services. Despite this being the fourth consecutive quarterly decrease, the level of job vacancies in May 2023 remained elevated. Job vacancies were 89.3% higher than they were in February 2020, prior to the start of the pandemic. The ongoing high level of vacancies reflected the continuing labour shortages in most industries.
The Job Vacancies Survey was suspended between August 2008 to August 2009 (inclusive).
Businesses reporting vacancies
The number of businesses reporting at least one vacancy shows the extent of the acute reduction in labour demand in May 2020, as well as the subsequent change since then. In February 2020, just prior to the main effects of COVID-19, the proportion of businesses reporting at least one vacancy was 11.0%. In May 2020, a much lower proportion of businesses reported at least one vacancy (6.5%). By November 2022, this had increased to 27.7%. In line with the decrease in the number of vacancies, the proportion of businesses reporting at least one vacancy also decreased to 24.3% in February 2023 but increased slightly to 24.7% in May 2023.
May-21 | Aug-21 | Nov-21 | Feb-22 | May-22 | Aug-22 | Nov-22 | Feb-23 | May-23 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New South Wales | 22.9 | 19.4 | 22.3 | 24.2 | 26.2 | 28.9 | 28.0 | 27.4 | 26.5 |
Victoria | 22.0 | 18.8 | 21.2 | 22.9 | 27.3 | 27.1 | 29.2 | 25.4 | 24.7 |
Queensland | 22.6 | 26.9 | 20.0 | 26.0 | 22.8 | 26.7 | 28.3 | 22.6 | 25.4 |
South Australia | 15.6 | 13.1 | 14.7 | 17.6 | 17.3 | 19.7 | 18.4 | 16.0 | 19.4 |
Western Australia | 21.7 | 21.5 | 19.5 | 22.4 | 28.3 | 25.2 | 29.4 | 21.6 | 23.1 |
Tasmania | 21.8 | 15.1 | 18.5 | 19.2 | 19.1 | 14.0 | 22.0 | 15.6 | 14.5 |
Northern Territory | 26.5 | 20.8 | 23.1 | 27.8 | 31.6 | 36.5 | 35.6 | 26.4 | 23.4 |
Australian Capital Territory | 13.8 | 9.4 | 13.4 | 16.6 | 13.7 | 15.5 | 13.7 | 16.0 | 17.1 |
Australia | 22.0 | 20.3 | 20.7 | 23.5 | 25.2 | 26.7 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 24.7 |
May-21 | Aug-21 | Nov-21 | Feb-22 | May-22 | Aug-22 | Nov-22 | Feb-23 | May-23 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mining | 11.0 | 18.1 | 17.1 | 27.8 | 24.8 | 19.3 | 27.1 | 26.0 | 26.4 |
Manufacturing | 15.1 | 22.9 | 24.9 | 29.6 | 22.3 | 25.9 | 23.8 | 26.8 | 16.8 |
Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 12.8 | 9.9 | 21.3 | 39.2 | 34.5 | 13.1 | 31.0 | 25.2 | 36.7 |
Construction | 26.9 | 23.3 | 21.5 | 24.3 | 30.3 | 28.5 | 28.5 | 24.2 | 23.6 |
Wholesale trade | 23.6 | 22.3 | 20.5 | 29.5 | 16.8 | 26.1 | 19.9 | 23.4 | 22.9 |
Retail trade | 21.6 | 21.4 | 15.9 | 16.6 | 17.7 | 23.8 | 31.5 | 23.0 | 21.7 |
Accommodation and food services | 30.5 | 18.3 | 30.9 | 32.4 | 34.0 | 42.5 | 45.3 | 41.7 | 35.5 |
Transport, postal and warehousing | 22.0 | 15.7 | 17.3 | 22.4 | 22.6 | 25.8 | 21.5 | 16.6 | 21.3 |
Information media and telecommunications | 20.0 | 15.9 | 15.5 | 19.8 | 26.7 | 20.4 | 29.0 | 21.4 | 21.3 |
Financial and insurance services | 20.5 | 10.3 | 5.5 | 14.8 | 20.0 | 8.2 | 21.7 | 7.4 | 11.8 |
Rental, hiring and real estate services | 16.9 | 19.3 | 15.1 | 20.1 | 25.2 | 27.3 | 26.1 | 13.9 | 13.0 |
Professional, scientific and technical services | 16.4 | 15.4 | 16.6 | 17.6 | 18.0 | 19.4 | 24.8 | 19.6 | 22.2 |
Administrative and support services | 23.6 | 29.8 | 30.5 | 36.2 | 38.3 | 32.8 | 36.8 | 26.7 | 34.0 |
Public administration and safety | 42.2 | 29.8 | 27.5 | 33.5 | 37.9 | 37.4 | 35.0 | 43.3 | 32.0 |
Education and training | 11.5 | 9.7 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 14.6 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 28.9 | 28.7 |
Health care and social assistance | 23.3 | 21.2 | 26.7 | 18.9 | 26.7 | 33.4 | 17.5 | 30.8 | 29.5 |
Arts and recreation services | 14.0 | 9.3 | 6.7 | 8.3 | 10.2 | 4.7 | 9.3 | 18.6 | 22.7 |
Other services | 22.8 | 28.1 | 25.4 | 32.7 | 32.7 | 34.4 | 36.7 | 25.3 | 31.1 |
All industries | 22.0 | 20.3 | 20.7 | 23.5 | 25.2 | 26.7 | 27.7 | 24.3 | 24.7 |
May-21 | Aug-21 | Nov-21 | Feb-22 | May-22 | Aug-22 | Nov-22 | Feb-23 | May-23 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Replacement/resignations | 76.0 | 75.1 | 77.4 | 79.7 | 80.4 | 78.2 | 77.1 | 79.6 | 77.6 |
Increased workload | 45.4 | 42.3 | 45.9 | 47.8 | 47.0 | 45.4 | 44.0 | 44.0 | 39.7 |
Expansion of business | 26.8 | 25.3 | 25.7 | 25.9 | 27.8 | 27.8 | 25.6 | 26.7 | 26.4 |
Restructure | 14.3 | 15.7 | 13.8 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 13.7 | 14.5 |
Relocation | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 |
Seasonal | 10.0 | 11.4 | 19.0 | 12.0 | 11.6 | 14.1 | 18.1 | 12.3 | 11.4 |
Special event | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
Takeover | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
Other | 10.3 | 11.8 | 12.0 | 12.9 | 8.6 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 9.8 | 8.2 |
Businesses may have multiple reasons for reporting job vacancies
Proportions are of businesses that reported at least one vacancy
States and territories
NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Australia | Australia (Seasonally adjusted) | Australia (Trend) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Change from previous quarter | |||||||||||
Feb-22 | 7.5 | -4.0 | 9.4 | 3.1 | 9.2 | 7.6 | 36.6 | 15.9 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 4.9 |
May-22 | 11.6 | 18.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | -1.9 | 2.8 | -8.7 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 13.0 | 4.3 |
Aug-22 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 9.1 | 3.1 | -6.8 | -16.6 | -1.3 | -2.9 | 3.0 | -4.3 | 2.2 |
Nov-22 | -11.8 | -7.0 | -0.1 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 12.8 | -1.7 | 2.0 | -5.2 | -1.6 | -0.7 |
Feb-23 | 9.0 | -5.9 | -0.8 | -9.4 | -14.8 | 8.4 | -8.4 | -5.8 | -1.8 | -2.4 | -1.9 |
May-23 | -11.7 | -5.1 | -9.3 | 8.7 | 4.0 | -7.6 | -8.3 | -1.1 | -6.2 | -2.0 | -2.2 |
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year | |||||||||||
May-21 | 183.5 | 205.1 | 166.5 | 213.3 | 174.7 | 250.0 | 192.9 | 144.9 | 185.5 | 186.7 | 30.7 |
May-22 | 28.7 | 37.1 | 16.9 | 14.6 | 41.1 | 16.5 | 53.3 | 40.8 | 29.7 | 29.9 | 44.2 |
May-23 | -11.7 | -12.5 | -2.0 | 2.0 | -15.8 | -5.8 | -18.5 | -7.7 | -10.0 | -10.0 | -2.8 |
Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated
Private sector
NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Australia | Australia (Seasonally adjusted) | Australia (Trend) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Change from previous quarter | |||||||||||
Feb-22 | 6.9 | -3.9 | 9.1 | 4.8 | 9.9 | 15.1 | 37.4 | 10.5 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 |
May-22 | 11.4 | 18.2 | 1.9 | 0.3 | -2.7 | 2.7 | -12.3 | 3.4 | 7.7 | 13.4 | 3.7 |
Aug-22 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 8.9 | 2.1 | -7.0 | -18.1 | 1.5 | -14.5 | 2.3 | -5.6 | 1.6 |
Nov-22 | -13.7 | -7.4 | -1.0 | -0.4 | 1.3 | 12.1 | -2.8 | 7.8 | -6.1 | -2.3 | -1.2 |
Feb-23 | 10.8 | -7.8 | -0.4 | -11.2 | -14.1 | 9.2 | -8.7 | 2.7 | -1.6 | -2.6 | -2.3 |
May-23 | -13.3 | -7.4 | -8.6 | 9.4 | 3.3 | -9.6 | -13.3 | 2.4 | -7.3 | -2.3 | -2.6 |
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year | |||||||||||
May-21 | 207.1 | 233.4 | 174.0 | 260.8 | 180.7 | 276.4 | 230.3 | 163.6 | 205.0 | 205.6 | 32.1 |
May-22 | 28.7 | 36.9 | 15.0 | 17.0 | 40.8 | 14.7 | 51.2 | 32.0 | 29.1 | 29.3 | 44.6 |
May-23 | -14.7 | -17.0 | -1.8 | -1.2 | -16.4 | -9.4 | -21.9 | -3.1 | -12.4 | -12.2 | -4.5 |
Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated
Public sector
NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Australia | Australia (Seasonally adjusted) | Australia (Trend) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Change from previous quarter | |||||||||||
Feb-22 | 15.2 | -4.6 | 12.1 | -9.1 | -0.5 | -30.4 | 31.9 | 34.6 | 6.4 | 9.9 | 9.9 |
May-22 | 14.3 | 15.4 | 5.4 | -2.2 | 11.4 | 3.8 | 11.2 | 19.2 | 11.7 | 8.6 | 9.9 |
Aug-22 | 13.3 | 10.5 | 11.4 | 11.3 | -4.4 | -3.9 | -13.5 | 26.0 | 10.2 | 9.1 | 7.5 |
Nov-22 | 6.6 | -3.0 | 10.0 | 6.8 | 10.9 | 17.5 | 4.0 | -7.8 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 3.8 |
Feb-23 | -4.8 | 14.7 | -5.7 | 4.3 | -23.6 | 2.7 | -7.2 | -22.7 | -3.5 | -0.4 | 1.6 |
May-23 | 2.9 | 14.7 | -17.1 | 4.6 | 14.4 | 7.4 | 14.7 | -10.1 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Change from corresponding quarter of previous year | |||||||||||
May-21 | 59.3 | 50.4 | 92.4 | 60.9 | 109.1 | 107.7 | 92.8 | 100.0 | 69.5 | 69.5 | 18.6 |
May-22 | 27.8 | 39.9 | 44.1 | -2.7 | 46.0 | 33.9 | 62.9 | 68.5 | 36.0 | 36.0 | 39.7 |
May-23 | 18.4 | 41.0 | -4.2 | 29.6 | -7.3 | 24.5 | -4.3 | -19.2 | 14.1 | 14.1 | 13.8 |
Data refers to original series unless otherwise stated
Industry
Feb-22 | May-22 | Aug-22 | Nov-22 | Feb-23 | May-23 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mining | 10.6 | 11.2 | 10.6 | 9.8 | 10.6 | 11.7 |
Manufacturing | 30.6 | 28.9 | 28.3 | 25.9 | 25.1 | 22.6 |
Electricity, gas, water and waste services | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.9 |
Construction | 35.2 | 39.9 | 33.5 | 29.9 | 31.2 | 33.1 |
Wholesale trade | 21.7 | 19.2 | 20.5 | 16.6 | 16.5 | 15.3 |
Retail trade | 29.1 | 40.3 | 46.1 | 49.9 | 36.4 | 32.2 |
Accommodation and food services | 46.1 | 51.9 | 59.1 | 56.3 | 57.8 | 42.5 |
Transport, postal and warehousing | 14.7 | 15.2 | 17.7 | 15.4 | 14.6 | 13.4 |
Information media and telecommunications | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
Financial and insurance services | 18.1 | 20.2 | 18.6 | 16.8 | 14.9 | 13.4 |
Rental, hiring and real estate services | 9.3 | 9.7 | 10.1 | 9.4 | 5.9 | 5.5 |
Professional, scientific and technical services | 42.1 | 42.9 | 44.1 | 40.8 | 47.6 | 44.7 |
Administrative and support services | 40.6 | 38.2 | 38.0 | 41.3 | 38.4 | 37.5 |
Public administration and safety | 21.5 | 24.1 | 27.5 | 30.1 | 26.4 | 22.9 |
Education and training | 11.6 | 12.7 | 11.2 | 11.1 | 13.5 | 15.9 |
Health care and social assistance | 60.2 | 68.9 | 74.3 | 62.7 | 72.4 | 72.9 |
Arts and recreation services | 6.2 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 6.6 | 6.5 |
Other services | 20.7 | 21.1 | 18.8 | 18.0 | 16.5 | 16.1 |
Data Downloads
Time series spreadsheets
Table 1. Job vacancies, states and territories ('000)
Table 2. Job vacancies, private sector, states and territories ('000)
Table 3. Job vacancies, public sector, states and territories ('000)
Table 4. Job vacancies, industry, Australia ('000) - original
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6354.0.