SYDNEY: Job vacancies in Australia rose to a fresh all-time peak in the three months ended November in a promising sign that demand for labour would remain healthy for some time yet.
Total job vacancies rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3% to 245,700 in the Sept-Nov quarter, from the previous quarter when they increased 1.1%, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
That was the highest reading since the series began in 1979. Vacancies were up 13.9% on a year earlier, although the pace of growth did slow from the previous quarter.
Vacancies in the private sector rose 1.1% to 220,000, again the highest on record. That was up 13.5% on the previous year. The public sector saw vacancies increase 4% to 21,600.
Analysts value the vacancies series as it has proved a reliable leading indicator of labour demand and turning points in employment growth.