Industry trends
SEEK job ads recorded a year-on-year rise of 10.7% in May according to the latest data. The industry that recorded the largest growth in job ads was Mining, Resources & Energy, which saw a 34% increase in May when compared to the same time last year.
This was closely followed by Government & Defence where job ads were up 29% year-on-year, and Community Services & Development, which recorded a 26% increase in job ads compared to twelve months ago.
New job ads in Community Services & Development grew in almost every state; the highest growth was recorded in South Australia (39% year-on-year), followed by Queensland (37%) and Victoria (28%). Despite lower growth (23%), New South Wales was the biggest contributor to the sector this month.
Kendra Banks, SEEK Managing Director ANZ says the industry has enjoyed strong job ad growth across several months.
“As well as seeing the third biggest job ad growth in May, Community Services & Development experienced the second highest growth nationally in April, with job ads up 49% compared to April 2017,” she says.
Banks points to the national roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) having an ongoing positive impact on job ad growth in this sector.
“The growth in the Community Services & Development sector continues to be driven by roles in aged care and disability support as the NDIS is rolled out across the country.”
The industries that saw a decrease in job ads were Real Estate & Property, and Advertising, Arts & Media, which both saw job ads fall 9% year-on-year. Both industries have been struggling recently, with Advertising, Arts & Media jobs falling in almost every month of 2018.
“Continued job cuts across Australia’s media landscape in the last twelve months appear to be having a detrimental impact on the sector,” says Banks. “Job ads decreased in every month this year except April. With more job cuts announced in June, this trend is likely set to continue.”
Retail & Consumer Products job ads also took a dip in May, posting a decline of 5% compared to May 2017.
Despite the industry posting better than expected sales in April, the ABS reports that it has been an overall slow year for the retail sector, with sales only growing 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to April 2018.
Trends across the country
Year-on-year job ad growth was experienced across almost every state and territory in May, with the ACT the only territory that experienced a decline.
For the second consecutive month, Tasmania led the charge with 40.5% growth compared to May 2017. The Apple Isle also experienced strong month-to-month growth of 2.6%, which was well ahead of the trend for job ad growth recorded across the whole of Australia (0.2% month-on-month growth).
The job market in Western Australia also continued its recovery, recording 18.7% growth compared to the same time a year ago, and strong monthly growth of 1.4%.
There were only three regions below the national average of seasonally adjusted year-on-year growth in May: Northern Territory (9.8%), New South Wales (9.7%), and the ACT (4.5%).
The following map details the job ad growth experienced across the nation compared to 12 months ago.
Salary trends
The average annual salary came in at $85,209 in May, which was a 3.8% increase compared to the same time last year.
There was year-on-year salary growth across all industries bar one in May, with Mining, Resources & Energy recording 10% salary growth compared to May 2017. The average salary in Mining, Resources & Energy was $121,225, which was also Australia’s highest average annual salary.
Notable salary growth was also experienced in Education & Training (6% year-on-year), Real Estate & Property (6%) and Legal (5%), while Insurance & Superannuation was the only industry to record a decline in salary (-3%).
Industry snapshot: Mining
Australia’s mining industry is seeing a significant increase in permanent roles across the states. SEEK job ads in the mining increased 34% year-on-year in May.
This positive growth in job ads since 2016 can be found across both the mining states (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, New South Wales) and non-mining states (Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania). The number of yearly opportunities in the mining states has increased by an average of 93% from their low in 2016 and 109% in the non-mining states in the same period.
Mining is the third largest contributor to the Australian economy, behind Services and Construction, and accounts for 1.8 per cent of the total workforce in Australia.
