SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Australian job ads surged after the removal of coronavirus locking measures. This resulted in a spike in demand for labor in Sydney and Melbourne. It is a sign that the economy will be recovering quickly.

The total number of job advertisements in Australia and New Zealand by New Zealand Banking Group Ltd rose 7.4% to November, compared with October’s 7.5%.

This is 52% more than the 222,093 level a year ago and 44% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Catherine Birch, senior economist at ANZ, stated that the report suggested a strong rebound in official employment numbers following a surprising 46.300 fall in October and a rising jobless rate of 5.2%.

Birch stated that job ads indicate that the unemployment rate should fall below 5% within the short term. We expect it to drop to about 4% by 2022, and further to 4% in 2023. Birch also stated that underemployment will likely be lower.

In the hopes of finally boosting wage growth, after many years of stagnant gains, the Reserve Bank of Australia aims to reduce unemployment to 4%.

The December meeting of the central bank is scheduled for Tuesday. Most people believe that it will keep its interest rate at 0.1%, a new record, and reiterate its outlook for no increases until 2023.