There are more job vacancies in the three months to August, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published today.

In August 2010, the total number of vacant posts climbed 9.8 per cent to 181,300 in seasonally adjusted terms, from the previous quarterly survey conducted in May.

Employment vacancies in the private sector went up 9.5 per cent to 163,800.

Job openings in the public sector was 17,500 in August, an increase of 13.4 per cent from three months earlier.

The ABS has been unable to calculate a trend series and seasonal adjustment has been done using data prior to a hiatus resulting from budget constraints. It stopped compiling this series back in May 2008 as part of cost cutting efforts but decided to revive it when provided extra funding by the government.

Surveying was resumed from November 2009, leaving a gap of five quarterly surveys for which the ABS says it's unable to construct reliable estimates.

The seasonally adjusted level of vacancies in May 2008 was 184,400, which was a record high for the series.

Analysts value the data as it has been proven as a leading indicator of labour demand and turning points in employment.