The good news for job hunters and resume writers is that job ads were up a record 42 per cent in June. But were still down 44.6 per cent on June last year, according to AAP, the last trusted news source in Australia.

Australian job advertisements jumped when much of the economy re-opened after the coronavirus lockdowns, but they remained sharply lower from a year earlier.

These figures do not reflect the recent lockdown in Victoria and the closing of that state’s border with NSW.

Monday’s figures (6 July 2020) from the ANZ showed total job ads climbed to an average 89,252, up from just 62,872 in May. Ads edged down 0.3 per cent in May after a huge 53.7 per cent dive in April.

“After an initial bounce, we expect the recovery will be a lot slower. There have been a number of recent large-scale lay-offs announced across a wide range of sectors, including travel, retail, media, consulting, and education,” said ANZ senior economist Catherine Birch.

She noted the rise in new COVID-19 cases in Melbourne and return to lockdowns in several postcodes posed a risk to the pace and timing of the recovery.

Official data last showed the jobless rate rose to an under reported 7.1 per cent in May, and would have been more than 11 per cent if not for government measures to limit lay-offs.

The ANZ vacancies series is closely watched by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) as it counts actual job ads, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics data is based on intentions by firms to hire.