SYDNEY, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Australian job advertisements held mostly steady in December following a sharp fall the previous month, data showed on Monday, suggesting demand for workers remained strong overall even if the labour market was loosening a little.
Data from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and employment website Indeed showed on job ads edged up 0.1% in December from November, when they fell by 5.1%.
Ads were down 14.9% from a year earlier, but remained 36.5% higher than pre-COVID levels.
Official data showed last week that job vacancies in Australia fell only slightly in the three months to end-November, adding to signs of resilience in the labour market even as interest rates have jumped 425 basis points to a 12-year high of 4.35%.
For the full year, job ads fell 15% in 2023, according to the data from ANZ and Indeed.
"The annual decline was relatively broad-based across occupations, with Job Ads down across 70% of occupational categories," said Callam Pickering, a senior economist at Indeed, adding the biggest decreases came from food preparation and service.
"Nevertheless, Job Ads in 80% of occupational categories are still above pre-pandemic levels." (Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Jamie Freed)
