Vacancies fall again
Skilled vacancies fell by another -0.7 per cent in September, following a -0.1 per cent decline in August.
Vacancies have now been falling for 9 consecutive months, and sit -7.1 per cent lower than a year ago (or -12,800 job ads lower).
Vacancies did seem to be genuinely gaining some traction right up until January 2019, but since that time have declined by -19,200, and today they sit back down around 2017 levels.
Job ads also decreased across all eight occupational groups, with only the ACT holding the figures up through recording a monthly increase.
Directly or otherwise, a significant drag on hiring is set to arise from the downturn in Sydney construction.
Job ads in New South Wales are down by -11,750 over the past 9 months, and quite a bit more than that since peaking in March 2018.
The brutal truth is this is unlikely to get much better any time soon, and full employment is a world away.
The plural of anecdote is not data, but nobody I've spoken to this year is rushing out to buy a new apartment right now due to a raft of well-founded fears.
So unless incentives are brought in to stimulate first homebuyers or non-resident investors the construction sector is likely heading into a protracted downturn.
