Job vacancies in Australia rebound in November quarter to break 9 straight quarters of declines

Job vacancies in Australia rebounded in the November quarter to break nine straight quarters of declines, data showed on Wednesday, in a further sign of resilience in the labour market.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed vacancies bounced 4.2% in the three months to November, partly reversing a 5.6% drop in the previous quarter.

Job openings were down 10.3% from the same period a year earlier at 344,000, but still 51% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Vacancies in the private sector firmed 4.7%, while those in the public sector edged up 0.4%.

Vacancies rose in 14 of the 18 industries covered, with the largest percentage gains in accommodation and food services, and arts and recreation. Those helped offset falls in construction and education.

The labour market has proven unexpectedly resilient in recent months even as economic growth overall slowed to a crawl, with unemployment falling back to an eight-month low of 3.9% in November.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Saad Sayeed)