A January jump in the number of job advertisements adds weight to the view that the economy remains strong and suggests a drop in unemployment later this year, ANZ says.
Job ads on the internet and in newspapers rose by a seasonally adjusted four per cent in January, more than reversing the previous month's 2.2 per cent fall, according to the monthly report released on Monday.
ANZ senior economist Felicity Emmett said the solid rise was consistent with last week's positive business conditions report, while ongoing strength in property prices and a $3.5 billion record trade surplus suggests the underlying fundamentals of the economy are solid.
"Not all recent data have been strong. While the jobs report posted reasonable employment growth (including in full-time employment), the uptick in the unemployment rate was disappointing," Ms Emmett said.
"But the bounce in ANZ job ads, along with modest increases in other leading indicators, lends support to our view that - although momentum in the labour market has slowed - it remains strong enough to underpin a gradual decline in the unemployment rate this year."
In the year to January, job ads were up 7.1 per cent, ANZ's figures showed.
