Australian job advertisements slip in October

SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Australian job advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet dipped in October, ending two months of gains and pointing to some downside risk for the official employment report due later in the week.

The fall in job ads could temper speculation that the central bank will raise interest rates at its December policy meeting.

A survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) released on Monday showed total job advertisements fell 1.7 percent in October, after a 4.4 percent increase in September.

Ads were down 42.3 percent on October last year.

"These results highlight that the recovery of the Australian economy is still vulnerable to setbacks," said Warren Hogan, acting chief economist at ANZ. "Indeed, job advertising in newspapers remains less than half of the recent cyclical peak," he added. "In the near term, we do not expect to see much improvement in the official labour market statistics."

Hogan noted job advertising tended to lead actual employment outcomes by around six to nine months. As such, he expected broadly flat employment growth over the course of the summer with a further small increase in the national unemployment rate to just above 6.5 percent in mid-2010.

The official employment report is due Thursday and analysts generally expect a dip of around 10,000 jobs in a natural payback to September's stunning gain of 40,600. The jobless rate is seen edging up to 5.8 percent, from 5.7 percent.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked rates to 3.5 percent last week, the second rise in as many months, but said it aimed to remove stimulus gradually, leaving in doubt whether it would move in December as well.