• Since COVID-19, there are at least 800,000 more unemployed Australians but just two-thirds of the jobs, according to the latest SEEK data.
• More candidates competing over a smaller pool of jobs saw applications per ad increase 10% over the last fortnight.
• With Victorian jobs in decline before it even re-entered lockdown this week, it could drag the labour market even further south.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Falling out of the workforce is hard, but getting back in might be even tougher at the moment.

There’s a whole lot less on offer for job seekers, with COVID-19 having wiped out one in three advertised positions, according to the latest SEEK data supplied to Business Insider Australia.

“In the fortnight ended 5 July, job ad volumes across Australia were 66.6% of pre-COVID levels,” SEEK managing director Kendra Banks said.

While there was some small growth across the country over the fortnight, the labour force remains fairly stagnant, with one notable exception in the wrong direction.

“Victoria has seen a decline of 6.1%, which now its positions it as the state with the weakest recovery to date, with job ad volumes, at 55.9% of pre-COVID levels,” Banks said.

With Victoria reentering lockdown after that period, things only look like getting worse.

“A return to lockdown in metropolitan Melbourne is expected to delay any recovery in Victoria’s job ad volumes, which will not be welcome news for businesses and job seekers in the state.”

There are no prizes for guessing that each state’s recovery has been closely linked to its containment success.

The job market in the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia are far stronger than the rest of the country, with only one in six jobs disappearing from those states. Queensland meanwhile is quickly catching up as local industries begin rebounding as the Sunshine State reopens.

That leaves the New South Wales and Victoria floundering behind. As the states which traditionally outperform the others, not to mention the largest employers, it’s a troubling sign for Australia’s recovery.

More than 800,000 Australians have lost their jobs since March, and many more could join them as the JobKeeper wage subsidy is reviewed and potentially wound back in September.

In anticipation of that, and as businesses reopen, more Australians are searching for work. While job ads aren’t really growing, competitiveness is among job seekers as applications rose nearly 10% over the fortnight.

“Since COVID hit, job ads dropped and job applications per ad increased. While [those numbers] have converged somewhat, we are still seeing more applications per job across most industries compared to pre-COVID times,” Banks said.

Jobs in administration, IT, accounting, sales and construction have become especially competitive over the last fortnight. There is half the number of jobs going in those sectors, while there are around 40% of the legal and HR gigs typically available.

Meanwhile, the resources, community services sector, manufacturing and transport sectors, which have fared comparatively well, are actually seeing slightly fewer candidates.

Other than that, there’s little reprieve for would-be workers.

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