Methodology

Last updated: April 20, 2025

Data Sources

The Jobs By Region tool combines data from two primary sources maintained by Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA):

Internet Vacancy Index (IVI) - Monthly count of online job advertisements from SEEK, CareerOne, and Workforce Australia.
Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation (NERO) - Monthly estimates of employment across 355 occupations in 88 regions of Australia.

We also incorporate population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to normalize jobs data by region size.

Region Ranking

Regions are ranked based on a composite score that considers:

Job volume (adjusted for population)
Growth rate of job opportunities
Jobs per person ratio
Population size adjustments

Our algorithm normalizes data across regions of different sizes and applies stabilization techniques to ensure fair comparisons.

Limitations

When using this tool, please consider these limitations:

IVI does not capture all job advertisements or multiple positions in a single ad
NERO estimates are experimental and may be volatile, particularly for smaller regions or occupations
Smoothing techniques may not capture short-term market changes
Data is based on residence location rather than workplace location

Jobs and Skills Australia recommends using multiple data sources to analyze labor market trends.

Acknowledgements

Data is sourced from Jobs and Skills Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Internet Vacancy Index incorporates job listings from SEEK, CareerOne, and Workforce Australia.

References: Jobs and Skills Australia IVI and NERO methodology documents, Australian Bureau of Statistics.