Ahead of today's RBA meeting, the Dun & Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey has indicated that businesses don't anticipate hiring new staff as they look to control costs in the midst of difficult economic conditions. Job expectations are at a three-year low, and research by the company indicates no new jobs have been added since the March quarter of 2012.
“With businesses keeping a careful eye on their expenses, the significant cost of hiring new staff appears to be dampening expectations for jobs growth,” Dun & Bradstreet director of corporate affairs Danielle Woods said.
The report has been offset - and seemingly contradicted - by the
ANZ Job Ads series. The latest report from the bank showed job ads were up 3% in February following a rise of 0.6% in January.
#pb#But ANZ economist Ivan Colhoun said the figures could belie the true state of the labour market. Despite what he called "tentative signs" that labour demand was stabilising, Colhoun said the market showed the same signs of life in early 2012 before weakening over the remainder of the year. He echoed Woods, saying companies were wary of taking on new expenses.
"Anecdotal evidence suggests that Australian firms are generally keeping a close eye on their bottom line, including labour costs. In addition, firms are already reporting that the degree of spare capacity in Australia’s labour market is greater than implied by the current 5.4% unemployment rate," Colhoun said.
