Demand for workers has slowed after the initial post-coronavirus lockdown flurry, although job advertising still remains at elevated levels.
The National Skills Commission says preliminary results for November show job advertisements posted on the internet rose by a slim 0.6 per cent, although at 252,300 ads they still remain at a 13-year high.
With the exception of NSW, job advertising grew in all jurisdictions in November, led by a 7.4 per cent gain in the ACT. That was closely followed by a 7.1 per cent increase in the Northern Territory and a six per cent rise in Queensland.
But in NSW job ads fell 4.5 per cent, albeit following extraordinary growth of 38.5 per cent over the previous two months.
"Further, the level of job advertisements in the state remains elevated compared to levels observed prior to the COVID-19 Delta outbreak," the commission said.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its labour force report for November on Thursday.
Economists expect a marked rebound in the number of people employed after the COVID-19 lockdowns ended in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
Forecasts point to a large 200,000 employment increase in November, although this would still be short of the 378,000 employment positions lost during the September quarter when the lockdowns were at their height.
The unemployment rate is expected to fall to five per cent after the unexpected spike to 5.2 per cent in October.
"Things are looking up for Australia's economy into next year," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told ABC television.
"There's a lot of positive economic data that shows that we are heading in the right direction. But there's certainly no room for complacency, and we're certainly not out of this pandemic just yet."
But shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said uncertain times continue after the "deep and damaging" downturn in the September quarter.
"This time last year and in the May budget the treasurer was saying the economy was prepared for lift off and it was about to come roaring back," Dr Chalmers told Sky News.
"Instead we had the the third biggest downturn in the history of the national accounts."
Meanwhile, petrol prices eased further in the past week from their recent record highs, providing some comfort for motorists.
The Australian Institute of Petroleum said the average national price for petrol fell 5.1 cents to 162.8 cents per litre in the past week, the biggest weekly drop in 15 months.
However, Commonwealth Securities senior economist Ryan Felsman warned global oil prices are on the rise again due to easing concerns over the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
"The rebound in international fuel costs is bad news for Aussie motorists ahead of summer driving holidays," Mr Felsman said.
Australian Associated Press