Online job advertisements fell by 6.6% in May during the second consecutive month of declines, according to ANZ (ASX:ANZ) research.
Online listings declined by more than double newspaper job ads, which fell 2.7% in the month, and by slightly more than the 6.5% recorded for total job classifieds.
But overall job ads were 8.3% higher than in May last year, and internet job ads were up 9.1% over the same period.
In trend terms both internet and overall job ads fell by 0.5% last month.
With advertising in April declining by a revised 0.4%, this is the first time there have been two consecutive months of negative job advertising since July 2009, ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said.
Hogan said the decline in job ad growth in 2011 has so far been roughly in-line with slowing employment growth.
The bank estimates an unemployment rate of around 4.9%.
With unemployment likely to remain below 5% over the next year, the Reserve Bank is expected to maintain a tight hold on monetary policy, Hogan said. ANZ is forecasting a 25 basis point increase in the RBA cash rate over the next three months.
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