SYDNEY- Australian job advertisements fell in February, although the drop merely offset the gain in the previous month, data showed on Monday, suggesting the labor market remained resilient at the start of 2025.
Data from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and employment website Indeed showed job ads dropped 1.4 percent in February from January, when they rose by an upwardly revised 1.3 percent.
Job ads for February were down 9.2 percent from a year earlier, although they remained 14.7 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates for the first time in more than four years but policymakers were cautious about the prospects of further easing largely due to a surprisingly tight labor market.
The economy created some solid 44,000 new jobs in January, while the jobless rate remained low at 4.1 percent. Participation rate hit a record high of 67.3 percent, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.
Australia’s central bank expects underlying inflation to fall faster than previously expected as it downgraded the economic outlook, although a still tight labour market is likely to create some lingering price pressures.
