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Job market report

Job markets in Victoria

Online job ads, unemployment and pay across Victoria's 9 job market areas, from Jobs and Skills Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Each area has its own full report.

Latest data
JSA September 2026; ABS 2023 to 2025 and the 2021 Census
Updated
24 October 2026
Areas
9 job market areas

Key findings

  1. Steady: online job ads across Victoria were up 0.1% on a year earlier, from 46,399 to 46,438 a month in the three months to September 2026.[1][2]

    Section 1: Job ads across Victoria →
  2. Online job ads grew fastest in Ballarat (up 9.0%), Bendigo (up 6.8%) and Geelong (up 6.4%), comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.[1]

    Section 2: Job market areas in Victoria →
  3. Unemployment was highest in Greater Melbourne (5.3%), Latrobe - Gippsland (4.7%) and Ballarat (4.5%) at the 2021 Census.[3]

    Section 2: Job market areas in Victoria →
  4. Unemployment was lowest in Warrnambool and South West (3.1%) and Hume (3.4%) at the 2021 Census.[3]

    Section 2: Job market areas in Victoria →

1 Job ads across Victoria

Jobs and Skills Australia's Internet Vacancy Index is a monthly count of online job ads, compiled from SEEK, CareerOne and Workforce Australia. Regional figures are three-month averages. It is not a count of ViewJobs' own ads. This page adds up the 9 areas' figures.

Victoria
+0.1%
46,438 ads a month[1][2]
Australia
+0.6%
the sum of every area[1][2]
Areas with more ads
6
of 9; 3 had fewer[1]

Online job ads, the three months to September 2026 against a year earlier. An area counts as more or fewer when its change shows as more than 0.0%.

Figure 1.1: Online job ads a month, VictoriaThree-month average, the sum of its 9 areas, October 2023 to September 2026.
30k40k50k60k70kJan 2024Sep 2024May 2025Jan 2026Sep 2026VictoriaVictoria, Sep 2026: 46,43846,438

Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; ViewJobs analysis[2].

Show the numbers
Online job ads a month, Victoria
MonthOnline job ads a month
October 202368,397
November 202364,022
December 202356,396
January 202454,365
February 202454,350
March 202459,348
April 202457,522
May 202457,107
June 202454,503
July 202452,468
August 202450,865
September 202451,330
October 202453,075
November 202450,583
December 202444,785
January 202543,088
February 202542,992
March 202547,826
April 202545,384
May 202545,782
June 202544,541
July 202546,128
August 202545,421
September 202546,399
October 202546,859
November 202545,008
December 202540,117
January 202639,526
February 202641,258
March 202646,550
April 202644,819
May 202644,467
June 202643,219
July 202644,937
August 202645,570
September 202646,438

2 Job market areas in Victoria

Every job market area in Victoria, with its online job ads and its latest ABS figures. Select an area for its report.

Figure 2.1: Online job ads, change on a year ago, by area, VictoriaThe three months to September 2026 against a year earlier. Select an area for its report.

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].

Show the numbers
Online job ads, change on a year ago, by area, Victoria
AreaAds a month, September 2026Change on a year ago
Ballarat937+9.0%
Bendigo908+6.8%
Geelong1,690+6.4%
Warrnambool and South West761+3.4%
North West Victoria923+0.4%
Shepparton850+0.1%
Hume937−0.3%
Greater Melbourne38,170−0.6%
Latrobe - Gippsland1,262−0.6%
Table 2.1: Job market areas in VictoriaOnline job ads are the three months to September 2026; ABS figures are the latest year for each.Scroll the table sideways for every column.
AreaAds a month, September 2026Change on a year agoMedian employee income, 2023Unemployment, 2021 CensusPopulation, 2025
Ballarat937+9.0%$57,3894.5%184,285
Bendigo908+6.8%$57,4314.1%173,769
Geelong1,690+6.4%$60,5334.1%355,990
Hume937−0.3%$55,9213.4%189,765
Latrobe - Gippsland1,262−0.6%$54,1354.7%313,733
North West Victoria923+0.4%$50,0134.0%153,762
Shepparton850+0.1%$53,0974.0%138,645
Warrnambool and South West761+3.4%$53,6303.1%128,320
Greater Melbourne38,170−0.6%$63,2745.3%5,435,590

Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; Australian Bureau of Statistics[3].

3 Quick answers

Short answers to the questions people ask about Victoria's job markets, each with its period and source.

How many jobs are advertised in Victoria?

46,438 online job ads a month were placed across Victoria, on average, in the three months to September 2026.

Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; ViewJobs analysis[2].

Is Victoria's job market growing or shrinking?

Steady: online job ads across Victoria were up 0.1% on a year earlier, from 46,399 to 46,438 a month in the three months to September 2026.

Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; ViewJobs analysis[2].

Where are job ads growing fastest in Victoria?

Online job ads grew fastest in Ballarat (up 9.0%), Bendigo (up 6.8%) and Geelong (up 6.4%), comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].

Where are job ads falling in Victoria?

Online job ads fell most in Greater Melbourne (down 0.6%), Latrobe - Gippsland (down 0.6%) and Hume (down 0.3%), comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.

Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].

Where is unemployment highest in Victoria?

Unemployment was highest in Greater Melbourne (5.3%), Latrobe - Gippsland (4.7%) and Ballarat (4.5%) at the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[3].

Where is unemployment lowest in Victoria?

Unemployment was lowest in Warrnambool and South West (3.1%) and Hume (3.4%) at the 2021 Census.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[3].

4 Notes and method

What the figures count, where they come from, and the rules these pages apply to them.

The areas
The reports cover 50 job market areas, 42 regional ABS regions and the eight capital cities: the areas Jobs and Skills Australia publishes online job ads for. Each has its own report.
Online job ads
Jobs and Skills Australia's Internet Vacancy Index is a monthly count of online job ads, compiled from SEEK, CareerOne and Workforce Australia. Regional figures are three-month averages. It is not a count of ViewJobs' own ads. It counts ads, not jobs filled, by occupation and area.
State and national ads
These pages read the index's series by area, so a state or national figure here is the sum of its areas, read at the same month for every area and marked as ViewJobs analysis. It can differ from the state and national totals Jobs and Skills Australia publishes separately.[2]
The map
Areas are shaded by their change in online job ads on a year earlier. The shades are set from the spread of changes among the areas shown, so one change can take a different shade on a state page and on the national map.
Small numbers and ties
An area with fewer than 5 ads a month, now or a year earlier, is shown as "fewer than 5" and is not shaded or ranked. Areas tied at the figure shown share a rank.
ABS figures
The latest ABS income figures here are for the year to 30 June 2023; population counts are more recent. Every figure shows its year. These pages take unemployment from the Census: each figure is the rate at the Census named, not a current rate. The ABS's monthly Labour Force estimates by region are not included yet.

5 References

Every figure on this page points at one of these entries.

  1. Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index, September 2026. jobsandskills.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-10/internet_vacancies_anzsco2_occupations_gccsa_and_sa4_regions_-_september_2026.xlsx. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Accessed 24 October 2026.
  2. ViewJobs, ViewJobs analysis of the Jobs and Skills Australia Internet Vacancy Index, September 2026. jobsandskills.gov.au/data/internet-vacancy-index. State and national figures are the sum of the ABS areas in Jobs and Skills Australia's regional series.
  3. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Data by Region, v1.6.0. dbr.abs.gov.au. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Accessed 24 October 2026.

Cite this report

ViewJobs (2026). Job markets in Victoria, data to September 2026. https://preview.viewjobs.com.au/job-market/vic

Licence

Contains data from Jobs and Skills Australia, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, used under CC BY 4.0. ViewJobs has charted the data and, where marked as ViewJobs analysis, added areas together.

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