SEEK said the top five industries making a positive contribution to the job numbers were government and defence, healthcare and medical, education and training, community services and development, and mining, resources and energy.

States-wise, Tasmania (+15.5%) and Western Australia (+2.7%) continued to show the the strongest year-on-year growth as far as new job ads were concerned.

SEEK ANZ managing director Kendra Banks said: “Although year-on-year job ad growth declined this month, job ads continue to be at a relatively high level and the softening we are seeing in growth is mirrored by softening in GDP growth numbers.

"A majority of the states and territories experienced this decline, to the exclusion of Tasmania (+15.5%) and Western Australia (+2.7%).

“In our larger labour force states, such as Victoria and NSW there is a continued job ad decline (-3.1% and -9.0% respectively), with NSW declining since the beginning of the first quarter in 2019.

"Part of the decline in NSW may reflect a more cautious approach by businesses leading up to the recent state election.”

March also saw a fall in job ads in the housing sector, alongside the weakening housing market. This was particularly so in design and architecture (-26.4%), real estate and property (-20.5%) and construction (-19.8%).

Said Banks: "Our data has helped us to identify that regional areas outside of the greater capital cities appear to be less susceptible to the downturn in the housing market, which in the larger cities impacts sectors such as construction and trades."

SEEK said that despite the slowdown in job ads, the average advertised salary across Australia in March was up +2.6% on last year. "We continue to see strong growth in salaries across Victoria (+3.0%), Queensland (+3.0%) and NSW (+2.8%), with all states showing an increase," the company said.

Graphics: courtesy SEEK