SEEK Advertised Salary Index - April
The SEEK Advertised Salary Index (ASI) measures the growth in advertised salaries for jobs posted on SEEK in Australia. This quarterly SEEK ASI report contains industry and state trends. There will be briefer monthly reports in June and July.
NATIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Advertised salary growth rose by 0.3% m/m in April, continuing the relatively stable growth seen in recent months.
Annual advertised salary growth has eased slightly to 3.6%, with more modest growth this April compared to April last year.
STATE ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Advertised salary growth in the Northern Territory has started 2025 strongly, resulting in the fastest national salary growth over the year to April (4.2%).
After broadly slowing over 2024, advertised salary growth has started to pick up in NSW, and has increased 0.4ppt from its low point to 3.6% y/y in April.
INDUSTRY ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Despite little growth m/m, advertised salaries for Legal grew the fastest y/y (6.6%).
Advertised salaries for Consulting & Strategy have risen quickly over the quarter (3.1%) driven by a relative increase in higher paying roles.
SEEK Senior Economist, Dr Blair Chapman says:
“Advertised salary growth has been broadly steady at around 3.6% year-ended for six months with stable monthly growth around 0.3% since December.
“For the first time since early 2022, the annual growth in advertised salaries is faster than the growth in living costs for employee households, which was 3.4% y/y in the March quarter.
“There is an expectation by most economists that growth in the ABS’ broader wage price index, which grew by 3.2% y/y in December, will increase over the next few quarters, as previously negotiated Enterprise Bargaining Agreements will be reflected in this data.”
NATIONAL ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Advertised salaries rose by 0.3% m/m in April, with the last six months one of the most stable periods in the history of the SEEK Advertised Salary Index.
Figure 1: Month-on-month growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index
Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.
Between September 2023 and November 2024 annual advertised salary growth fell 1.3ppt. Since then, annual growth has been broadly steady at around 3.6% y/y.
Figure 2: Year-on-year growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index
Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.
STATE ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Advertised salaries rose fastest in the Northern Territory, rising 4.2% in the year to April. Advertised salary growth in the territory finished 2024 strongly after a weak start and that momentum has carried into 2025.
Queensland has had the fastest average monthly advertised salary growth in recent years, with m/m growth averaging 0.4% since the beginning of 2023. Over this period, annual advertised salary growth has been above 4% in trend terms, only dipping to 3.9% in seasonally adjusted terms for a single month. Population and employment are continuing to grow faster than they had pre-COVID, supporting labour demand in the state.
Monthly advertised salary growth has picked up in recent months in NSW after slowing at the end of 2024, resulting in somewhat fast quarterly advertised salary growth of 1.1% and a rebound in the annual growth rate to 3.6%.
After a few months of slightly stable growth, advertised salaries have virtually stopped growing in Tasmania. This likely reflects the relatively weak labour market in the state with little change in employment over the year to March alongside a decline in labour force participation.
Table 1: SEEK Advertised Salary Index growth by state/territory
Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.
Figure 3: Year-on-year growth of SEEK Advertised Salary Index by state/territory
Note: seasonally adjusted. Source: SEEK.
INDUSTRY ADVERTISED SALARY TRENDS
Advertised salary growth in the Legal industry continues to be the fastest, at 6.6% over the year to April, although the strong m/m growth the industry was exhibiting over the second half of 2024 has begun to fade and y/y advertised salary growth may slow in the industry from here.
The Banking & Financial services industry had the second fastest advertised salary growth in April at 6.1% y/y despite relative weakness over the three months to April, at 0.2%. Advertised salary growth in the industry has been more volatile recently after a period of relative stability in early to mid-2024.
Advertised salary growth for Consulting & Strategy has risen quickly over the last three months (3.1%) driven by an increase in higher paying roles.
Annual advertised salary growth for the Government & Defence industry has been trending up since mid-2023, which likely reflects the wage growth increases agreed in Enterprise Bargaining Agreements across the industry over the past couple of years.
The Advertising, Arts & Media industry continues to record the slowest advertised salary growth of any major industry, going backwards by 0.1% in the year to April. With labour demand in the industry showing little signs of picking up and demand well down on its peak in 2022 and pre-COVID, there is little to suggest that the industry will experience faster advertised salary growth in the future.
Table 2: SEEK Advertised Salary Index growth by industry
NOTES
When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attribute SEEK as the source and refer to SEEK as an employment marketplace.
Commentary relating to the SEEK ASI can be attributed to Dr Blair Chapman, SEEK Senior Economist.
About the SEEK ASI
The SEEK ASI measures the change in advertised salaries over time for jobs posted on SEEK in Australia, removing much of the effect of compositional change.
The SEEK ASI is a complement to existing data about the growth in wages and salaries in Australia, including the ABS’ WPI. The WPI is a measure of the pace of wages growth across the economy.
The SEEK ASI provides a timely and frequent read on the pulse of advertised salary growth in Australia for vacant roles.
Disclaimer
The Data should be viewed and regarded as standalone information and should not be aggregated with any other information whether such information has been previously provided by SEEK Limited, ("SEEK"). The Data is given in summary form and whilstcare has been taken in its preparation, SEEK makes no representations whatsoever about its completeness or accuracy. SEEK expressly bears no responsibility or liability for any reliance placed by you on the Data, or from the use of the Data by you.