SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the internet were unchanged in December although annual growth was still strong, a survey showed on Tuesday.
Figures from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX showed total job advertisements were flat in December, from November when they fell 0.4 percent.
Ads averaged 175,428 a week, 4.1 percent higher than in December last year.
Australia's labour market tightened steadily through 2018 with the unemployment rate hitting a 6-1/2 year trough of 5 percent in September. While there is still some spare capacity left in the market, there are questions over whether the momentum of the last two years can continue.
"ANZ Australian Job Ads showed very little in the way of direction for most of 2018. The flat result for December underlines this pattern," said ANZ's Head of Australian Economics David Plank.
"Unless job ads jump by 1.3 percent or more in January, the annual rate of change in job ads will slip into negative territory for the first time since March-April 2014."
Plank, however, noted that the flat result in December need not point to a drop in employment as the level of job ads is "sufficiently high" for ongoing labour market growth.