In the month prior to JobKeeper ending, ANZ’s Australia Job Ads show that 176,000 roles were advertised in the month of February - up 7.2 per cent on the month.
Job Ads are now 13.4 per cent above their pre-pandemic level, equivalent to an additional 20,500 jobs being advertised on average per month.
ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch said the ongoing confidence will see solid net employment gains over February and March until JobKeeper ends.
“But we are still in the dark as to how many businesses and workers remain on JobKeeper in the current quarter, and therefore the potential hit to the labour market and overall economy,” she said.
In December, the ATO reported there were more than 1.5 million workers still receiving the payment, equivalent to almost 12 per cent of the workforce.
Despite an increase in jobs being advertised, underemployment remains a sizeable chunk of Australia’s workforce.
“In January, there were 878,000 people unemployed, 162,000 more than in March last year; 1.37 million remained on JobSeeker or Youth Allowance (other), with the payment to be reduced to $620.80/fortnight from 1 April,” Ms Birch said.
She highlighted for Australia’s economic recovery to continue, underemployment will need to be addressed.
“Labour demand must carry on strengthening for unemployment and underemployment to continue their rapid fall. This will be necessary to drive wage growth above 3 per cent (a feat not achieved in eight years) and inflation into the RBA’s 2-3 per cent target band,” Ms Birch concluded.
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