Australia 3 mths to Aug job vacancies fall 0.8 pct

Job vacancies in the three months to August in seasonally adjusted terms fell 0.8 pct from the May quarter but were up 11 pct year-on-year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. The decline was below a consensus forecast fall of 2.5 pct. In the May quarter, job vacancies increased 8.3 pct revised from a 7.3 pct rise. The reference date for job vacancies is the third Friday of the middle month of each quarter. In trend terms, the number of job vacancies rose 3.8 pct in the August quarter from the May quarter and were up 13.6 pct from the three months to August 2005. The ABS released the following table (all figures in adjusted terms): Aug 2006 Job vacancies Change vs May Change vs Aug 2005 (pct) (pct) Private sector 137,900 -0.1 +12.0 Public sector 16,200 -6.2 +3.3 Total 154,100 -0.8 +11.0