The number of job vacancies in Australia decreased by 1.8 per cent over the year to February 2020, despite a small quarterly increase of 0.2 per cent, according to new trend figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of job vacancies decreased by 0.1 per cent in the February 2020 quarter and by 2.2 per cent over the year.
Bruce Hockman, Chief Economist at the ABS, said "The quarterly decline in the seasonally adjusted data includes reduced vacancies for some of the businesses affected by the bushfires."
There was no notable impact of the COVID-19 virus on job vacancies for February 2020. The reference period for job vacancies fell at a point where there was only a relatively low number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within Australia and before it was declared a global pandemic.
"The period since the February survey has been a difficult time for the Australian community. Continuing to publish key economic statistics is crucially important for monitoring and decision-making. The Australian community can support this by continuing to respond to ABS surveys. We are thankful for the ongoing support during this difficult period,” said Mr Hockman.