Workers are reflected in the windows of an office building in Sydney's Barangaroo business district in Australia's largest city.
SYDNEY Reuters jobs vacancies in Australia surged to all-time highs in the May quarter as firms struggled to find staff amid a tighter labour market, another sign that interest rates are likely to rise further next week.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ABS showed that vacancies in the three months to May increased 13.8%, from the previous quarter to 480,100.
That was 29.7% higher than the same period last year, and more than double the level in February 2020, before the coronaviruses hit.
The increase in demand for workers, particularly in customer facing roles, has resulted in businesses having to deal with disruptions to their operations, as well as ongoing labour shortages, said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.
He said that there were almost the same number of unemployed people and vacant jobs in May compared with three times as many people before the start of the epidemic.
The jobless rate has fallen to its lowest in almost 50 years and is 3.9%, despite all forecasts in recent months.
The Reserve Bank of Australia RBA has raised interest rates twice since May to 0.85%, and is expected to hike by another 50 basis points at its July policy meeting next week.
The private sector vacancies climbed 14.2% in the month of May, while public sector vacancies grew 9.4%.
The number of vacancies in health and social assistance was the highest in health and social assistance, followed by accommodation and food, scientific and professional and retail sector.