the economy is also evident in the sharp rise in the number of job advertisements and job vacancies ( graph 6 ). there are also increasing reports that firms are finding it difficult to find workers. this is especially so in a range of professional services, the construction industry, agriculture and parts of the hospitality industry. https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2021 / sp - gov - 2021 - 12 - 16. html 6 / 16 12 / 16 / 21, 10 : 38 am the rba and the australian economy | speeches | rba graph 6 job vacancies and advertisements per cent of labour force % % 2. 5 2. 5 advertisements ( national skills commission ) 2. 0 2. 0 vacancies * ( abs ) 1. 5 1. 5 1. 0 1. 0 0. 5 0. 5 0. 0 0. 0 * this survey was suspended between may 2008 and november 2009 sources : abs ; national skills commission ; rba here in the riverina, the number of job ads is also at a very high level, with the surge in ads larger than it has been in the capital cities and in many other regional communities ( graph 7 ). https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2021 / sp - gov - 2021 - 12 - 16. html 7 / 16 12 / 16 / 21, 10 : 38 am the rba and the australian economy | speeches | rba graph 7 job advertisements by region group, january 2018 = 100 index index riverina and murray regional * capital cities * regional includes act and nt sources : national skills commission ; rba the unemployment rate has also come down significantly in regional australia and is now below that in the capital cities by a wide margin, which is unusual ( graph 8 ). and here in the riverina, the unemployment rate is substantially below the national rate and is also very low in absolute terms. https : / / www. rba. gov. au / speeches / 2021 / sp - gov - 2021 - 12 - 16. html 8 / 16 12 / 16 / 21, 10 : 38 am the rba and the australian economy | speeches | rba graph 8 unemployment rate by region group, seasonally adjusted % % regional * capital cities riverina * * * * * regional includes act and nt smoothed using a 12 - month trailing average sources : abs ; rba regional australia is benefiting from two significant changes. the first

ric battellino : housing affordability in australia background notes for opening remarks by mr ric battelino, deputy governor of the reserve bank of australia, to the senate select committee on housing affordability in australia, melbourne, 24 april 2008. * * * the reserve bank is very pleased to have been invited to participate in this inquiry into housing affordability. the terms of reference of the committee are wide - ranging and extend well beyond the areas in which the reserve bank has expertise. we will therefore limit our remarks to four areas – namely house prices, housing affordability, housing loan arrears and the rental market. the key points we would like to make are as follows : 1. the increase in house prices in australia since the mid 1990s, while very large, has been part of a broad trend evident in most other developed economies. this suggests that the main forces that have underpinned this rise have been global in nature, rather than country - specific. 2. traditional measures of housing affordability have declined since the mid 1990s. specifically, housing loan repayments have risen strongly relative to incomes. the overwhelming factor that has led to this is the rise in house prices ; mortgage interest rates in australia are no higher today than in the mid 1990s, when housing was at its most affordable. 3. despite the sharp fall in traditional measures of housing affordability, arrears rates on housing loans remain low by historical standards. to some extent, this is a sign of the extraordinary commitment of australian households to meeting their housing loan repayments, even in the face of financial pressure. it is also the case, however, that for the household sector as a whole, rising levels of income have allowed households to devote a larger share of their income to housing repayments, while maintaining or even increasing their overall living standards. this has meant that, for many households, traditional benchmarks of affordability – such as the often - quoted 30 per cent rule – may now be somewhat dated. while the picture on arrears for the household sector as a whole is quite benign, there are nonetheless significant pockets in the community where the high price of housing is causing financial distress. 4. the rental market is currently very tight, with vacancy rates at low levels and rents rising quickly. this comes after a decade when rents increased by much less than the price of houses, causing rental yields to fall to levels that discouraged increases in the supply of rental properties. it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the rental