• Australian businesses are hiring at a rate not seen for more than 12 months.
• Exclusive analysis from job site Indeed shows that there are currently 3.7% more advertised positions in Victoria, and 4.7% more in the rest of the country, than there was the same time last year.
• The strong hiring figures reflect well for a resurgent economy, but with some sectors badly lagging others the recovery is uneven.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Finishing off a year like no other on a high, there are more advertised jobs in Australian than there was 12 months ago – before anyone had even heard of COVID-19.

New analysis provided exclusively to Business Insider Australia by job site Indeed shows that the economy has stormed home in recent weeks as state borders lift and pandemic fears appear to dissipate.

“In early December, Australia reached an important milestone on its path to full recovery. Job postings are finally above last year’s trend… [as] more hiring is taking place across Australia than would normally take place in early December,” Asia-Pacific economist Callam Pickering said.

Leading the charge are Victorian businesses, now hiring 3.7% more than they were this time last year. Considering they were languishing 20% below just a month ago, this marks a “stunning turnaround”.

The bounce nearly catches up the state’s resurgent job market to the rest of the country, which is enjoying its own 4.7% bump, and offering some opportunities to the one million Australians out of work.

It secures a political victory for premier Dan Andrews, who faced enormous criticism from Federal Treasurer and fellow Victorian Josh Frydenberg over the state’s hardline measures. On the other side of it, the suppression strategy appears to have yielded results, as the economy returns to the same recovery trajectory as other states that handled far fewer COVID-19 cases.

But while jobs are coming back in December, there’s a long way to go, with the unemployment rate hovering around 7%.

“The recovery is by no means complete and a sustained decline in the unemployment rate will likely require above trend hiring activity consistently throughout 2021. Nevertheless, Australia continues to outperform other major economies with regards to hiring opportunities,” he said.

Of course, the bounce in hiring is coming along more in fits and spurts than as a uniform lift across all sectors and states.

“With Victorian hiring now on level pegging with the rest of Australia, we find that around half of Victorian occupations are outperformers. That’s much improved on mid-September when all but a handful of occupations were tracking poorly compared to the rest of Australia,” Pickering said.

Project management there is leading the state higher, as “some projects that were delayed or cancelled during lockdown [begin] starting back up”, while the same roles drag in the rest of the country.

Victoria is also out-hiring the rest of country in terms of the dentistry, veterinary, legal, and medical information sectors. It is trailing meanwhile when it comes to construction – despite being strong nationwide – security, beauty and wellness, and personal care.

“There are also other occupations such as those in hospitality, tourism and pharmacy where job postings are tracking poorly across the entire country, with minimal improvement despite lockdowns being lifted,” Pickering said.

“That’s a useful reminder that the recovery has been uneven and the impact of COVID-19 on some occupations will linger even though the economy itself is mostly functioning as normal.”

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