SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian job advertisements climbed for a fourth straight month in June, confirming the recent marked improvement seen in the official measures of labour demand.
A monthly survey by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group <ANZ.AX> showed total job advertisements climbed 2.7 percent in June, following a 0.4 percent increase in May.
Ads of 175,091 were up 10.5 percent on June last year and at their highest since 2011.
After sharp increases in March, April and May, the government measure of employment had finally caught up with the strength seen in ads and driven the jobless rate to a four-year low of 5.5 percent.
"The continued gain in job ads points to this trend being maintained," said David Plank, ANZ's head of Australian economics.
"We think the strength of employment will be a key factor in stabilising, and possibly lifting, consumer sentiment," he added. "This will be important in ensuring the downside risks to the economy don't materialise."
(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
