Jobs ads not enough to stop jobless rise

Demand for workers has been modestly improving since August 2013 but is not yet enough to prevent unemployment rising.

That's the assessment of the Department of Employment, noting the increase in job vacancies is weaker than when the economy was recovering from the global financial crisis.

In its latest monthly vacancy report it shows that job advertisements in the past year have increased by 6.9 per cent, albeit falling 1.1 per cent in February in seasonally adjusted terms.

Job ads increased in seven of the eight occupational groups monitored by the department in the past 12 months, led by a 14.2 per cent increase in demand for community and personal service workers and a 10.5 per cent rise in labourers.

The ACT continues to be where the new job action is with vacancies surging 16.2 per cent over the year, followed by a 13.4 per cent jump in ads in NSW.