FALL IN JOB ADS PREDICTED TO BE SHORT LIVED

A DROP in job advertisements placed in July has been put down to uncertainty surrounding the federal election and Brexit, and the numbers are expected to rebound next month.

There were 157,278 job ads placed in Australia in July, down 0.8 per cent on the previous month, according to the ANZ Australian Job Ads report. Annual growth in job ads has slowed to 6.9 per cent in July, from 8.0 per cent in June.

This was the first decline since April and is being put down to heightened uncertainty temporarily delaying hiring plans.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics, Felicity Emmett says, "This impact appears to be short-lived, with job ads picking up over the course of July, and little sustained effect from the increase in uncertainty on business and consumer confidence. For example, the ANZ-Roy Morgan index of consumer sentiment fell about 3 per cent in the weeks after Brexit and the federal election, but recouped almost all of that fall by the end of July."

The unemployment rate has stabilised at around 5.75 per cent after declining in the second half of last year from a peak of 6.3 per cent.

"With surveyed business conditions remaining upbeat and the RBA cutting rates in August, we look for a gradual improvement in hiring intentions over the remainder of the year," says Emmett.