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In May this year,

Australian Jobs 2013
was
released. It’s the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations’ most recent edition of their comprehensive annual Australian
labour market update.

 

The most significant news story amongst the welter of
statistics was that the mining jobs book is over, according to DEEWR.

 

In the five years between November 2007 and November
2012, the Australian mining sector almost doubled its workforce,
creating nearly 131,000 jobs. The next five years are likely to be in
stark contrast with DEEWR predicting total mining job growth between
November 2012 and November 2017 to be a tiny 11,500 jobs, or 4.3%.

 

There’s plenty of other interesting and useful data
dished up by DEEWR and as is the case every year, I provide a list of
various facts that recruiters might be interested in (all figures quoted
are as at February 2013 unless otherwise stated).

 

1. The average annual growth rate of new jobs  
over the past twenty years is 2.2% (the March 2012 – February 2013
period was well below that annual average at 1.7%).

 

2. The area with the greatest 5 year job growth  
(Dec 2007 – Nov 2012) was Perth (+16.5%) followed by regional WA
(13.8%), NT (13.3%) and Melbourne (9.9%). The lowest 5 year job
growth   occurred in Hobart (+2.2%), followed by Regional Tas (+3.1%)
and then Regional SA (+5.2%).

 

3. The fastest growing industries over the past 5
years in each state   were (total employment growth rate is in
brackets):

 

NSW
Information, Media & Telecommunication
+23.7%
VIC
Health Care and Social Assistance
+29.2%
QLD
Mining
+89.3%

SA

Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services

+44.2%

WA

Mining

+106.8%

TAS

Mining*

+98.2%

NT

Mining

+74.3%

ACT

Administrative & Support services

+37.8%

*Mining benefited from a very low 2007 base (ie
2,300).  
By raw numbers mining is Tasmania’s 3rd lowest employing
industry (out of 19 industries)

 

4. Employment fell in six industries  
over the five years to November 2012. These were:

 

Manufacturing
-92,000
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
-26,400
Other Services
-20,600
Retail Trade
-20,000
Information Media and
Telecommunications
-4,900
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate
Services
-1,800
 

5. Of the six states, Victoria has the most
capital city-concentrated workforce   (73.5% of the state’s workforce
located in Melbourne) just shading WA (73.4% in Perth) and SA (72.9% in
Adelaide).

 

6. The largest employing industries   (as at Nov
2012) in Australia are:

   

Health Care & Social Assistance
1.369 m jobs, 37% in Regional Aus
Retail trade
1.220 m, 38% in Regional Aus
Construction
995,000, 40% in Regional Aus
Manufacturing
967,000, 36% in Regional Aus
 

7. The industries with the fastest five year (Nov
2007 – Nov 2012) total job growth   in Australia were:

   

Mining
+94.3%

Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services

+34.6%

Health Care & Social Assistance
+24.6%
Education and Training
+13.7%
 

8. By industry, the most new jobs   in the
next 5 years  (Nov 2012 – Nov 2017)  are projected to be
created in:

   

Health Care & Social Assistance
177,800
Retail Trade
109,100
Construction
100,200
Accommodation & food services
66,899
 

9. Mining  
gains plenty of publicity due to the wages, conditions and skills
shortages but it only employs 2.3% of Australia’s workforce  
(269,700 people), which has it 16th out of 19 sectors in
terms of workforce size. It is projected to grow its workforce on 4.3%
in the next 5 years, a dramatic fall from the 94.3% growth of the past 5
years.

 

10. The most common occupations in each industry are
as follows

 

Accommodation and Food Services:

Waiters  
 

14% of the industry
Admin & Support Services:

Commercial Cleaners  
 

20%
Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing:

Livestock Farmers  
 

22%
Arts & Recreation Services:

Sports Coaches  
 

8%
Construction:

Carpenters and Joiners  
 

10%
Education & Training:

Primary School Teachers  
 

17%
Electricity, Gas, Water & Waste:

Electricians  
 

7%
Financial & Insurance services:

Bank Workers  
 

13%
Health Care & Social Assistance:

Registered Nurses  
 

17%
Information Media and
Telecommunications:

Journalists/writers  
 

8%
Manufacturing:

Structural Steel and Welding Trade
Workers  
 

5%

Mining:

Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers  

 

16%

Other Services:

Hairdressers  

 

15%

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services:

Accountants  

 

9%

Public Administration and safety:

Police  

 

9%

Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services:

Real Estate Agents  

 

35%

Retail Trade:

General Sales Assistants  

 

31%
Transport, Postal and
Warehousing:

Truck Drivers  

 

17%
Wholesale Trade:

Sales Reps  

 

8%
 

11. The five most common job categories   in
Australia (with total employment in brackets) are:

 

General Sales Assistants
511,000
Registered Nurses
241,300
Retail Managers
227,000
General Clerks
216,100
Receptionists
190,000
 

12. The strongest projected employment
growth by occupational group   in the 5 years to November 2017 is
predicted to be for:

 

Information Professionals  
(up by 16.0%), although employment of Librarians is expected to fall.

 

Health Diagnostic and Therapy
Professionals   (14.2%), due to
strong growth for a number of occupations, including Dieticians and
Physiotherapists.

 

Carers and Aides  
(13.6%), mainly Care Workers, Special, and Carers, Aged and Disabled and Dental Assistants.

 

Health and Welfare Support Workers  
(13.4%), with strong growth for a number of occupations, including
Ambulance Officers and Paramedics, and Massage Therapists.

 

Corporate Managers  
(12.4%), especially for Managers, Corporate Services and Managers,
Advertising and Sales.

 

As is consistent with past editions of Australian
Jobs  , recruiters aren’t significant enough to have their own job
category in the nine pages devoted to rating the ‘future prospects’ of
hundreds of individual occupation job categories.

 

Meatboners, slicers and slaughters (9,000 current jobs, future job
openings: low), betting clerks (2,400 current jobs, future job openings:
low) and upholsterers

(4,500 current jobs, future job openings: low) can all be comforted in
the knowledge that DEEWR regards them as a distinct job category unlike
recruiters (estimate 18,000 currently employed),
apparently.

 

Maybe in 2014?

 

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