By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that vacancies fell by 1.5% to 438,500 in the February quarter compared to the previous quarter. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 92%, highlighting how much impact COVID-19 has had on employment opportunities.
According to Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at ABS, despite this decline in job vacancies across all industries in Australia, there is still very high demand for labour from employers nationwide. This demand remains particularly acute within accommodation and food services as well as arts and recreation services industries where vacancies are around three to four times what they were before the pandemic.
Despite these challenges faced by employers, RBA has raised interest rates ten times since May to reach an unprecedented level of 3.60%. The strength of Australia's labor market is one reason why RBA has taken this approach.