Australia’s transport and storage sector is in slow growth mode, according to the latest MyCareer Employment Forecast.
Jobs in the transport and storage sectors have been growing gradually at a rate of 1.8 per cent in the year to August 2011, the report finds.
Employment in the freight and transport sector is also experiencing a modest rise, although the rate of growth has slowed. An improved agricultural sector and mining sector has contributed to growth in this area.
Rail transport continues to receive a boost from the mining sector. Air transport has increased the number of jobs available thanks to an improvement in business travel.
“This sector overall is very responsive to the state of the economy,” says MyCareer Employment Forecast head researcher Michael Emerson.
“When times are good this sector really fires, but then in tougher times it tends to slump more than average thanks to a reduced demand for material transportation in sectors such as manufacturing, construction and retail,” he explained.
“Having said that, this is still a big employer, even in these more cautious times. The sector employs 587,000 people which is more than double the number in the mining sector,” Emerson said.
In New South Wales, employment is growing again as the agricultural and mining sectors lift their demand for transport.
In Victoria, jobs fell in the first half of 2010, mainly due to a weak aviation sector, but recently hiring has started to increase again as the strength of the economy kicks in.
In Queensland the recent flooding has slowed the recovery in the transport and storage sector. However, reconstruction works now underway should stimulate the sector due to an increased need for materials transport.
South Australia has seen a fall in jobs in this sector, while Western Australia is also taking a break after a strong growth period.
Total earnings in this sector are increasing ahead of overall growth (up by 6.6 per cent in the year to May 2011). To some extent, this reflects the increasing hours worked in the sector after the 2008 slump induced by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
Business confidence in this sector, while still positive, has softened significantly due to global economic uncertainty.
This is already impacting on job vacancies, which have fallen and are now 20 per cent below what they were 12 months ago.
Nevertheless, the forecasting model by EMDA (Economic and Marketing Development Advisors) is still showing some growth in this sector.
The growth is more subtle than previous years, and the forecast is for an annual rate of growth of 1.8 per cent for the year to May 2012.