The collapse in the labour market since the onset of the global financial crisis has been highlighted by a halving of the number of jobs advertised over the past year, a survey finds.
The Olivier Job Index found the number of jobs advertised online fell by 7.43 per cent in April to be down 49.84 per cent on the same month a year ago.
Transport was the hardest hit sector, with a drop of 18.04 per cent in April, amid fears about a further decline in international air travel because of the outbreak of swine flu in humans.
The number of engineering jobs advertised, which fell 14.06 per cent last month, pointed to the continued decline of the mineral exporters.
Also hard hit was human resources, down 13.86 per cent, advertising and media lost 12.44 per cent and accounting was down 12.06 per cent.
The administration and clerical sector posted the biggest percentage decline in advertised jobs over the past year, with a decline of 72.01 per cent in 12 months.
The survey found the raw number of job ads fell from 204,433 at the beginning to 183,837 at the end of the month. The seasonally adjusted figures show a significant structural decline in job opportunities for Australians set to continue and many large organisations were not advertising but instead were now using people in their redeployment pool rather than firing them outright.
Of the 16 sectors surveyed, Healthcare was the only sector not to post a fall in April, with a 0.67 per cent increase in the number of job advertisements.
The Australian Capital Territory posted an overall decline of just 0.78 per cent in April and growth in 12 of the 16 occupational sectors surveyed.
The other buoyant states in April were South Australia, with a fall of 2.78 per cent and Tasmania, a decline of 4.24 per cent.
Hardest hit of the states was Western Australia, which fell 12.33 per cent last month, reflecting the decline in mining.
And for young people, graduate jobs have dropped by 56 per cent over the past 12 months. »
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