Online job advertisements for professionals across the design and construction sector barely moved last month but remain below levels seen either one year ago or even several months ago, the latest data shows.

In September, data from the Department of Small Business and Jobs indicates that the number of vacancies advertised on Seek and other online job sites remained almost unchanged across most categories.

But it indicated that vacancy activity was well down compared with the same month one year ago and provided further confirmation of a softening trend which has taken hold since March.

In construction, vacancies for construction managers fell from 4,505 in September 2018 to 3,786 in September just passed.

In architecture, vacancies have fallen over the last twelve months from 847 to 721 in the case of architects and landscape architects, from 476 to 236 in the case of interior designers and from 314 to 257 for urban and regional planners.

In engineering, vacancies over the past year have fallen in civil engineering (2,51 to 1,952), from 385 to 365 in the case of electrical engineering and from 790 to 710 in the case of industrial and mechanical engineering.

Only mining engineering is seeing a rise, with vacancies increasing from 681 in September 2018 to 777 in September 2019 – a number which represents a more than threefold increase over the past three years.

It should be noted, however, that vacancy levels across most categories of engineering remain at elevated levels by historic standards not counting the abnormal years of the resource investment boom.

This indicates that demand for skilled professionals across the sector is being underpinned by a strong pipeline of road and rail projects.

By contrast, architecture vacancies stand at subdued levels – a phenomenon which reflects the exposure of architects to the slowing building market.

The data follows quarterly ABS data released last month which appears to contradict any ideas about a slowing market for construction professionals.

According to that data, the seasonally adjusted number of people employed throughout the construction sector in Australia came in at 1.1762 million in August – virtually unchanged from the previous reading in May and representing the second highest level of construction sector employment on record.