An index of job vacancies for skilled workers in Australia rose by 1.2% in September from August, the Department of Employment said. The index currently stands at 38.6 but is still 50.4% lower than in September 2008.
Vacancies are counted on the first Saturday of each month. The monthly rise in skilled vacancies was fairly widespread with rises recorded in 12 of the 18 occupational groups measured by the skilled vacancy index.The strongest rises were in the areas of building and engineering professionals, up 9.1% on-month, wood trades, up 6.7%, building and engineering associates, up 6.4%, and chefs, up 6.9%.
The strongest falls were recorded in marketing and advertising, down by 21.7%, followed by medical and science technical officers, down 4.9%.
In the states and territories, skilled vacancies rose by 4.7% in Victoria, 3.2% in Western Australia, 5.8% in the Northern Territory, 2.0% in Tasmania and 0.5% in New South Wales. In Queensland, vacancies fell by 1.0%, while in South Australia they fell by 1.7%.