Job advertisments down to recessionary levels

The number of job advertisements has fallen for an eighth straight month.

The number of job advertisements in major metropolitan newspapers and on the internet fell by 9.7% in December.

Job advertisements were 29.9 per cent lower than 12 months earlier.

The number of job ads in newspapers slipped 13.9 per cent in the month.

Job ads in newspapers have fallen 51.8 per cent in the 12 months to December, the weakest annual rate of growth since the survey began in 1975 and worse than at any time during the 1982 and 1991 recessions.

A 50 per cent decline in newspaper job advertising in a year is historically consistent with economic recession.