Further rise for national job ads

The employment landscape is continuing to improve, as the latest figures point to a further increase in job ads across the country.

November data from ANZ reveals a 0.7 per cent month-on-month increase in listings, making it the sixth consecutive month in which a rise has been registered. In fact, the  ANZ Job Ads series has now been trending higher for the past 13 months.

One of the main areas for concern is the decline in the number of newspaper job ads, which were down 5.4 per cent over the course of the month. Some states witnessed considerable falls, showing that the situation varies across the country.

ANZ Chief Economist Warren Hogan explained that although the results are encouraging, companies are nevertheless likely to come up against some significant challenges in the short term at least.

"Weaker commodity prices are likely to put further pressure on government finances and further constrain the ability for businesses to increase wages; another reason to believe a continuation of soft wages growth ahead seems likely," Mr Hogan noted.

Nevertheless, companies could still find themselves using recruitment software over the coming years, as ANZ remains optimistic that a recovery will soon take hold. Part of this will be due to the impact of the low cash rate environment, which the bank expects will remain in place until November 2015.

There is also the fact that business sentiment also seems to be improving, which should give companies the impetus they need to start taking on staff.

Roy Morgan Research's Business Confidence survey for November marked a 7 per cent increase from the previous month, with the reading proving the highest since January. As a result, the index is now only 9.8 per cent beneath the level seen just after last year's federal election.