ABS reports decline in job vacancies

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicate that the job market in Australia has contracted as of November last year.

The ABS released a fresh batch of statistics earlier this week that show the number of job vacancies declined in every sector in the country from August 2013 to November 2013. Looking at the trend holistically, vacancies in all sectors combined dropped by 0.3 per cent between these months and stood at 140,000 in November.

This figure represents a staggering decrease of 14.9 percent in the year to November 2013.

Jobs in the private sector were down by 0.1 per cent between August and November last year and reached 129,500. Vacancies in this sector have declined by 15.1 per cent since November 2012.

The public sector was hit the hardest, though, with vacancies dropping by 3.6 per cent in the four-month period. However, it fared slightly better when a longer period was assessed, as vacancies went down by 12.8 per cent between November 2012 and November 2013.

There were 10,500 vacancies in this sector as of last November.

Jobseekers around the country may be disheartened by these findings, especially as they arrive at the dawn of a new year – but recruitment agencies can always do their part to help these candidates find suitable work.

One of the steps agencies can take is to make use of the right technology tools such as recruitment software. Agencies can utilise these powerful software solutions to efficiently search through candidate databases to match the right people to the right jobs.

Despite the shrinking of the job market, candidates will be out in full force at this time of year to land new jobs, so make it your new year's resolution to help them find the work they desire.