Resources recovery
August 2017 was a softer month for job vacancies on the Department of Employment's index.
The trend is now +6.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, and +23.8 per cent below the October 2013. low.
Despite the weaker month, Queensland and Western Australia still experienced double digit growth from a year earlier, with a decent lift in Victoria.
The annual figure was down in Tasmania, but that's as likely related to a surge in employment uptake based on other indicators.
The wrap
It's good to see that vacancies in Western Australia are now well off the lows of 2016, at about 12 per cent higher.
But nationally, this was a softer result.
Perhaps this is an early indicator that the economy is set to underwhelm in 2018.
Westpac's Bill Evans, always worth following closely, sees no rate hikes in 2018 on this basis.
