ONLY CHARTS

Edition #81

1. The number of new job ads on SEEK in Australia fell 4.7% m/m in April to the lowest level since January 2021.

2. Job advertising on SEEK is weakest in NSW, Victoria and the ACT relative to 2019 levels.

3. The ratio of job applications to job ads on SEEK continues to skyrocket. Anecdotally, the number of job applications is likely being boosted by recent arrivals to Australia applying for numerous jobs.

4. Again, the job applicant-to-job-ad ratio has risen the most in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

5. The Victorian Government is forecasting a decline in government-backed infrastructure investment (in nominal terms) after the current fiscal year.

6. The Victorian Government included $20.5b of new spending over the four years to 2027-28 in yesterday’s Budget. This included $6.1b just in 2024-25, or nearly $3b in “net” terms (the actual economic impact is likely to lie somewhere in between).

In a $2,700b economy, this is relatively small in isolation, but this is just one government. The Queensland Government recently announced $2.5b in electricity bill subsidies for all households in that state from July this year.

7. The US economy has undoubtedly been stronger recently than most other advanced economies. On a per capita basis, output and spending has been much stronger than elsewhere.

In part, this is likely to reflect an underestimation of recent net immigration and population growth. Recent research from the CBO has significantly lifted its estimates of current and recent US population growth.