Skilled vacancies in Western Australia rose by 1.4 per cent in May, while a national decline of 0.1 per cent was shown in Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations data.
Nationally, its skilled vacancies index in May was 95.7 points, 2.5 per cent less than in May 2007.
The monthly decline reflected a 2.1 per cent fall in professional vacancies, which was partly offset by a 3.7 per cent rise in associate professionals and a 0.1 per cent increase in trade vacancies.
The fall in skilled vacancies was widespread in May with decreases evident in 11 of the 18 professions monitored by DEEWR.
The largest fall was in printing trades, which fell 7.1 per cent, while the biggest increase was in science professionals, rising 5.0 per cent.
Among the states and territories, NSW recorded the biggest drop with a decline of 2.7 per cent, while the Western Australia recorded the largest increase, up by 1.4 per cent.
In the year to May, the Northern Territory showed the strongest growth, up 23.3 per cent, while the weakest was in Queensland, with a fall of 16.8 per cent.
