Australian Job Demand Rise Points to Resilience in Economy

By James Glynn

SYDNEY--Australian job ads rose solidly in August, a further sign of resilience in the economy in the face of rising interest rates and ongoing geopolitical shocks.

Job ads rose 2.5% in August after an upwardly revised 1.9% increase in July, according to a survey by ANZ Bank and employment search portal Indeed. Job ads are 7.8% above their level a year ago.

The job ads series is also 21.4% above its average at the start of the century and has been "resilient through the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate hiking cycle," said ANZ senior economist Jasmine Zheng.

The data follows recent higher-than-expected readings for monthly inflation data and quarterly economic growth, with many economists expecting the central bank to deliver its fourth tightening of policy this year in coming weeks.

Still, ANZ expects economic momentum to soften over the coming months as higher interest rates continue to restrain demand. As a result, job ads will likely gradually trend lower, Zheng added.

"However, given the resilience of the series, we expect the rise in the unemployment rate to be modest," she said.

There were strong gains in job ads across Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland in August, with slight declines in New South Wales, the data showed.

Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 06, 2026 22:19 ET (02:19 GMT)