A MONTHLY analysis of internet and newspaper job advertisements conducted by ANZ has revealed a 1.2 per cent fall in June, after falling 2.6 per cent in May.

The number of job advertisements in newspapers fell 3.3 per cent in June, led by falls in advertising in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.

Encouragingly, newspaper advertising has risen for three consecutive months in trend terms in New South Wales and South Australia.

The number of internet job advertisements fell 1.1 per cent in June, after falling 2.6 per cent in May.

Internet job advertisements were 8.5 per cent below year earlier levels in June and have now fallen for three consecutive months.

ANZ senior economist Justin Fabo said the decline in advertisements signalled that businesses are turning their attention to improving productivity.

"Recent trends in job advertising suggest that there has been a mild softening in labour demand in Australia after it had strengthened somewhat in the early part of the year," Mr Fabo said.

"In part, this likely reflects hesitation among some firms to hire additional staff in the face of heightened uncertainty about the global economy again in recent months, particularly in Europe."

Trend newspaper job advertising has performed better in NSW and the Northern Territory.

Interestingly, Victoria and Western Australia have recorded the weakest levels of newspaper advertising in recent months, which Mr Fabo said is stands in contrast to its robust labour market conditions.

"It may reflect the fact that the booming mining sector has a greater tendency to use other media channels to recruit staff, including advertising overseas and in one instance, seeking many thousands of mining workers in a single advertisement," he said.

The ANZ reports that rising underemployment and an increase in the number of Australian receiving unemployment benefits relatively soft labour market conditions,

"While the recent decline in job advertisements suggests that labour market outcomes could be a little soft in the near term, we do not expect a rapid or significant deterioration in conditions going forward."

To view the ANZ Job Advertising Series report, click here.