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Job index: Now is not a good time to be looking for IT work

Index fall of 2.2 per cent is especially hard on South Australian and Western Australian workers, but there are signs of recovery in NSW

The latest job figures offer no relief for people looking for work in the ICT sector.

March results for the Clarius Skills Index show a fall by 2.2 per cent to 101.1, with tightening government budgets and shelved projects blamed for the result.

The fall means the sector experienced a reduction in the need for skilled people with this quarter showing a shortfall of around 1000 people, down from 8000 in the previous quarter.

The index works by analysing demand against supply and uses labour force data supplied by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Clarius Skills Index fall is in line with recent Olivier Job Index findings, which showed Internet ads falling 7.44 per cent to reach a 12 month crash of 56.05 per cent.

Despite the overall drop, there are some positive signs in the industry, according to the publisher of the Clarius Skills Index, Candle ICT executive general manager, David Stewart.

In a release, Stewart said there were significant variations in employment across all states. The NSW sector has stabilised with signs that more roles are becoming available, while the ACT is seeing more candidates come on the market as budgets are cut.

South Australia is seeing a swing towards contracting as companies wait to see what happens to the economy over the next few months, and Western Australian recruitment is flat.

According to Stewart a turnover in demand for computing professionals could occur in the second half of 2010.

The latest report comes on the back of the surprise that Australia's unemployment rate fell by 0.3 per cent to 5.3 per cent in April. However, despite the limited number of jobs available in the market, the skills shortage issue continues to plague the Australian ICT industry.

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