How many jobs are advertised in Western Australia?
28,470 online job ads a month were placed across Western Australia, on average, in the three months to September 2026.
Job market report
Job markets in Western Australia
Online job ads, unemployment and pay across Western Australia's 5 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
- 5 job market areas
- Sources
- JSA and ABS
Key findings
Growing: online job ads across Western Australia were up 7.5% on a year earlier, from 26,477 to 28,470 a month in the three months to September 2026.[1][2]
Section 1: Job ads across Western Australia →Online job ads grew fastest in Outback WA (south), up 10.0%, and Greater Perth, up 8.6%, comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.[1]
Section 2: Job market areas in Western Australia →Unemployment was highest in Greater Perth (5.3%) at the 2021 Census.[3]
Section 2: Job market areas in Western Australia →Unemployment was lowest in Outback WA (north), 4.1%, and the Wheatbelt, 4.1%, at the 2021 Census.[3]
Section 2: Job market areas in Western Australia →
1 Job ads across Western Australia
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 5 areas' figures.
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%.
Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; ViewJobs analysis[2].
Show the numbers
| Month | Online job ads a month |
|---|---|
| October 2023 | 33,474 |
| November 2023 | 32,160 |
| December 2023 | 28,955 |
| January 2024 | 28,523 |
| February 2024 | 28,462 |
| March 2024 | 30,728 |
| April 2024 | 29,406 |
| May 2024 | 29,505 |
| June 2024 | 28,413 |
| July 2024 | 28,141 |
| August 2024 | 27,421 |
| September 2024 | 27,934 |
| October 2024 | 28,735 |
| November 2024 | 27,448 |
| December 2024 | 24,382 |
| January 2025 | 23,738 |
| February 2025 | 23,904 |
| March 2025 | 26,781 |
| April 2025 | 25,415 |
| May 2025 | 25,783 |
| June 2025 | 25,006 |
| July 2025 | 26,009 |
| August 2025 | 25,713 |
| September 2025 | 26,477 |
| October 2025 | 26,833 |
| November 2025 | 26,215 |
| December 2025 | 23,685 |
| January 2026 | 23,709 |
| February 2026 | 24,462 |
| March 2026 | 27,551 |
| April 2026 | 26,250 |
| May 2026 | 26,183 |
| June 2026 | 25,425 |
| July 2026 | 26,759 |
| August 2026 | 27,442 |
| September 2026 | 28,470 |
2 Job market areas in Western Australia
Every job market area in Western Australia, with its online job ads and its latest ABS figures. Select an area for its report.
- Down more than 10%
- Down 5–10%
- Down 2–5%
- About the same (±2%)
- Up 2–5%
- Up 5–10%
- Up more than 10%
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].
Show the numbers
| Area | Ads a month, September 2026 | Change on a year ago |
|---|---|---|
| Outback WA (south) | 1,565 | +10.0% |
| Greater Perth | 23,190 | +8.6% |
| Bunbury | 1,284 | +3.0% |
| Outback WA (north) | 1,730 | −0.2% |
| Wheatbelt | 701 | −1.4% |
| Area | Ads a month, September 2026 | Change on a year ago | Median employee income, 2023 | Unemployment, 2021 Census | Population, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunbury | 1,284 | +3.0% | $57,451 | 4.2% | 210,962 |
| Wheatbelt | 701 | −1.4% | $53,742 | 4.1% | 149,617 |
| Outback WA (north) | 1,730 | −0.2% | $77,000 | 4.1% | 102,732 |
| Outback WA (south) | 1,565 | +10.0% | $62,908 | 4.2% | 128,306 |
| Greater Perth | 23,190 | +8.6% | $66,543 | 5.3% | 2,452,765 |
Sources: Jobs and Skills Australia[1]; Australian Bureau of Statistics[3].
3 Quick answers
Short answers to the questions people ask about Western Australia's job markets, each with its period and source.
Is Western Australia's job market growing or shrinking?
Growing: online job ads across Western Australia were up 7.5% on a year earlier, from 26,477 to 28,470 a month in the three months to September 2026.
Where are job ads growing fastest in Western Australia?
Online job ads grew fastest in Outback WA (south), up 10.0%, and Greater Perth, up 8.6%, comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].
Where are job ads falling in Western Australia?
Online job ads fell most in the Wheatbelt, down 1.4%, and Outback WA (north), down 0.2%, comparing the three months to September 2026 with a year earlier.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia[1].
Where is unemployment highest in Western Australia?
Unemployment was highest in Greater Perth (5.3%) at the 2021 Census.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[3].
Where is unemployment lowest in Western Australia?
Unemployment was lowest in Outback WA (north), 4.1%, and the Wheatbelt, 4.1%, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Western Australia, data to September 2026. https://preview.viewjobs.com.au/job-market/wa
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.
