The final months of 2011 saw a fall in job vacancies that presents a warning that unemployment rates are likely to increase this year.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the number of job vacancies for for every 100 unemployed people fell to 28.5 in November.
This number is the lowest since May 2010, after reaching a peak of 31.4 in February 2011. This presents a big gap in the number of vacancies, when compared to the 37.7 vacancies per 100 unemployed in the year prior to the 2009 global crisis, meaning the labour market is well short of the strength seen not too long ago.
However, the slight increase in unemployment this year could mean an enhanced prospect in further interest cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which also forecasted that unemployment will fall “gradually as the economy gains momentum later in the (two year) forecast period”.
