Almost a quarter (24%) of businesses reported an increase in their monthly revenue in November compared to 16% in October, according to results released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Friday.
The bureau’s Head of Industry Statistics, John Shepherd, said the latest Business Impacts of COVID-19 Survey showed signs of increasing confidence among businesses.
Revenue increases are expected
“As well as a greater proportion of businesses experiencing an increase in their revenue in November, one quarter expect revenue to increase for December. Some businesses commented that seasonal factors had influenced these expectations,” he said.
Shepherd added that the survey results also included information about capital expenditure plans for the next three months.
“One in five (22%) of businesses indicated they have capital expenditure plans over the next three months, with about three-quarters (73%) of these businesses expecting to spend the same or more than what is usual for this time of year.”
Uncertainty influences expenditure
“We asked businesses what had influenced their capital expenditure plans,” he said.
“The most common factor reported by businesses was future economic uncertainty (29%), however the proportion reporting this as a factor has halved since August (when it was 59%).”
Meanwhile, in other positive economic news released on Friday, the National Skills Commission’s monthly vacancy report shows that new job advertisements have now increased for six consecutive months.
In October, recruitment activity increased by 9,100 or 6.2%, nationally to stand at 155,000 job advertisements.
More online jobs ads for sales workers
During October, job advertisements increased across all eight broad occupational groups, with the strongest gains recorded for Sales Workers (up by 11.6% or 1,300 job advertisements), Labourers (up by 10.7% or 1,100 job advertisements) and Community and Personal Service Workers (up by 9.9% or 1,400 job advertisements).
These increases highlight the ongoing recovery in recruitment activity since the April 2020 series low point, with job advertisements having more than doubled since that time (up by 83,300 job advertisements).
Western Australia recorded the strongest increase (up by 24.9% or 3,800 job advertisements), followed by Tasmania (17.8% or 290 job advertisements), the Northern Territory (17.5% or 270 job advertisements), South Australia (16.8% or 1,200 job advertisements) and Queensland (9.9% or 2,900 job advertisements).
