Western Australian recorded the largest increase in skill job vacancies in December, up 1.9 per cent compared with a month earlier, national data shows.
Nationally skilled job vacancies fell 1.0 per cent.
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations skilled vacancies index in December was 43.7 points, 1.4 per cent higher than in December 2009.
The department's internet vacancy index also fell by 0.4 per cent for the month of November to 95.7 points, to be 20.9 per cent higher than in November 2009.
Vacancies in December fell in all three of the occupational groups monitored by the department.
Professionals were down 0.6 per cent, associate professionals fell 1.6 per cent and trades eased 1.0 per cent.
The largest decrease was recorded for construction workers, down 5.9 per cent, while the biggest increase was for food trades, rising 1.4 per cent.
The largest decreases in skilled vacancies in the month were recorded in Queensland, down 3.7 per cent, followed by the Northern Territory, off 3.1 per cent.
Over the year, Western Australia recorded the largest increase in vacancies, rising by 36.9 per cent, followed by a rise of 3.5 per cent in NSW.
The biggest fall were seen in Queensland, down 36.5 per cent.