Fall in job ads continues, Swan commits to Budget surplus: Midday Roundup

The number of job advertisements published in newspapers and online has fallen for the fourth month in a row, according to the latest results from ANZ.

The survey shows that total job ads fell by 0.7% in October, with ads only growing by 0.6% in the previous year. September saw job ads fall by 2.1%.

In a statement, ANZ head of Australian economics and property research Ivan Colhoun said the result gives weight to the theory that unemployment could rise over the next few months.

“However, the decline in job advertising to date is very moderate, more like the slowing in 1996-97 than the collapse in advertising witnessed during the global financial crisis in 2008-09,” he said.

Colhoun also said the result shows there is now a divide growing between parts of the country that are growing and others that are not.

“At the same time, advertising is continuing to slow in the more populous states of NSW and Victoria,” he said.

ANZ expects unemployment to reach 5.5% by mid-2012.

Swan commits to surplus plan

Treasurer Wayne Swan has committed the Government to returning the budget to surplus in the next budget, despite Deloitte Access Economics predicting a deficit of $1.9 billion.

“That means tough decisions will have to be made in terms of the budget,” he told ABC Radio this morning, adding that savings will be needed.

Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey also told ABC Radio that, “Labor can’t deliver surpluses, it’s not in their DNA”.

“While they lecture the rest of the world about fiscal austerity, they fail to undertake it themselves.”

Shares open flat after Greece announces government deal

The sharemarket has opened flat this morning after Greece announced overnight it would form a new provisional Government to help construct a plan to pay down the country’s debt.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 17.2 points or 0.4% to 4263.9 at 12.05 AEST, while the Australian dollar was down to $US1.03c.

AMP shares fell 0.59% to $4.21, while Commonwealth Bank shares lost 0.22% to $48.82. NAB rose 0.04% to $25.20, as ANZ gained 0.57% to $21.14.

Greek PM steps down, new national unity Government formed

George Papandreou has stepped down as Greek Prime Minister and a new leader will be announced tomorrow, leading to the formation of a national unity Government.

A statement was released this morning saying Papandreou had stated he would not lead the new Government. Papandreou rocked financial markets last week by proposing to take austerity measures to a referendum.

“An agreement was reached to form a new government to immediately lead the country to elections after ratifying the decisions taken by the European Council,” the statement said.

“Tomorrow there will be a new communication between the Prime Minister and the head of the opposition on the new Prime Minister and the new government.”

Construction survey shows improvement, but sector still weak

A construction survey has shown improvement, but the sector is still weak and has been in contraction mode for 17 consecutive months.

The Australian Performance of Construction Index (PCI) lifted 4.7 points in October to 34.7, but remains well below the 50-point mark separating contraction from expansion.

AI Group director public policy Peter Burn said the “easing of the pace of decline in overall construction activity and the turnaround in the Australian PCI new orders sub-index after a steepening pace of decline over the year to date, is somewhat encouraging.”

“While global economic uncertainties persist and domestic confidence is yet to bounce back, the Reserve Bank’s decision last week to reduce interest rates could help build the momentum towards recovery in the sector over coming months.”

The best performing sector was engineering construction – up 2.5 points to 44.1 on the back of mining and infrastructure projects.