This story about job ads is from the SEEK research site. The economy is flat and if one factors in rising prices for mortgages, rents, food and petrol, people tend to stay put for a while. The good news is job ads are up in SA.
National Insights
Job ads fell 0.9% m/m in June 2026, extending the trend of gradual decline, which has continued for the past eleven months. Annually, job ads have fallen 5.8%.
The ongoing decline reflects subdued hiring activity within Professional, Public and Consumer Services roles across the past year, while most roles within the Construction and Industrial sectors have risen over the past few months.
State and Territory Insights
Western Australia and South Australia were the only states to record a rise in job ads m/m, both extending over six months of continued growth.
The largest monthly declines were recorded in the Northern Territory (-1.5%), Tasmania (-1.4%) and New South Wales (-1.3%).
Industry Insights
Engineering, Construction and Mining, Resources & Energy are among the five industries to record annual growth.
While only a few industries recorded monthly rises in June, they included large industries such as Trades & Services (0.5%) and Hospitality & Tourism (0.2%).
The gap between the Construction and Industrial sectors and the Professional and Public sectors widened further in June, reflecting sustained activity in infrastructure, housing and resources while government and administrative roles continued to cool.
Annually, demand for workers within the Industrial sector comprising of Mining, Resources & Energy and Farming, Animals & Conservation are up 4.5% y/y, while demand within the Construction sector, which includes Construction and Trades & Service roles, has grown 2.3% y/y.
By contrast, industries dependent on discretionary business spending or government budgets declined. Government & Defence volumes fell 16.8% y/y, Call Centre & Customer Service declined 14.6% y/y and Retail & Consumer Products declined 12.9% y/y.
In the shorter term, only a handful of industries recorded monthly growth in June, led by the largest hiring industry, Trades & Services (0.5% m/m), alongside Hospitality & Tourism which appears to have stabilised over the past few months (0.2% m/m) and Consulting & Strategy (0.2% m/m).
Retail & Consumer Products fell to the largest extent, down 2.2% m/m, followed by Insurance & Superannuation (-2.0% m/m) and Real Estate & Property (-1.6% m/m). Healthcare & Medical, one of the largest industries by ad volume, fell 1.0% m/m and was the biggest driver of overall decline.
SEEK Chief Economist, Dr Blair Chapman says:
“Job ads continued their incremental decline in June, due to subdued hiring activity in the Professional and Public sectors. Meanwhile a growing number of trades-based and technical roles recorded increased demand. This reinforces the story of a labour market in transition.
“We are seeing a reallocation of hiring activity away from sectors that thrived in the post-pandemic rebound, and toward industries underpinned by long-term investment in infrastructure, resources and new build projects.
“What’s particularly striking is the durability of South Australia and Western Australia against the national trend, with a broad range of industries growing across both states.
“For jobseekers, the data reinforces that current opportunities are increasingly concentrated in skilled trades, labour and technical roles. While demand for AI skills is growing, in particular with reference to Generative AI and ethics, this demand is currently only evident in a small proportion of jobs.”