Australia's job vacancies fall for second straight quarter

Job vacancies in Australia have fallen for a second consecutive quarter.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, vacancies fell about 0.9 percent in the three months to August.

The bureau said around 3,000 positions were lost during this period, bringing the total down to about 325,000. Vacancies had also fallen by about 2.2 percent in the three months to May.

The latest decline was seen mainly in the private sector, where vacancies fell by about 2 percent, or nearly 5,800 positions. In the public sector, vacancies rose by about 7.8 percent, or nearly 2,800.

Within the private sector, vacancies fell by about 18 percent in wholesale trade and about 17.3 percent in preliminary services. Retail trade vacancies, however, rose by about 24.5 percent, and financial and insurance services vacancies rose by about 14.1 percent.

Compared with a year earlier, vacancies nationwide were down about 1.3 percent as of August.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank's latest exchange rate, one Australian dollar is worth 106.61 rupees (buying) and 107.03 rupees (selling).