The Olivier Job Index declined 9.83 per cent seasonally adjusted in November compared with October, with ad numbers down 16 per cent on November last year.

In raw terms there were 48,000 fewer employment opportunities advertised a week in November on the three major Australian job boards, compared with October.

All of the 16 industry sectors surveyed were hit during the month.

The hardest-hit sector was advertising and media, where the number of jobs ads dropped 25.78 per cent in November.

Another sector knocked hard was administration and clerical, where job ads fell 21.14 per cent in the month, and building and construction, which saw job ads decline 14 per cent in line with contraction in the construction industry.

Even the safest sectors have started to post declines in job ads, according to the survey.

Engineering, the sector with the most growth in the past year at 25.7 per cent, fell 2.98 per cent in November.

Olivier Group director Robert Olivier said there was a lot of stress in the workplace at present.

''The stress on managers to cut [jobs] and employees' fear of being fired is widespread,'' Mr Olivier said.

November is the fifth successive monthly fall in the Olivier Job Index and follows a fall of 4.42 per cent in October and 1.17 per cent in September.

''After strong growth in the employment market over the past two years, the Olivier Job Index has now recorded five months of consecutive falls and prospects for the new year look ominous,'' Mr Olivier said.

On a state-by-state basis, Victorian job ads were down 10 per cent in November, while NSW fell 11.93 per cent for the month.

South Australian job ads fell 8.67 per cent, ACT ads were down 1.92 per cent, while Tasmania improved by 4.46 per cent.

The decline in job prospects worsened in the two resource-rich states, reflecting the fall in global commodity prices.

Western Australia suffered an 8.67 per cent decline, while Queensland ads fell 8.63 per cent in November.

The one bright spot for Queensland was that hospitality and tourism jobs rose 0.18 per cent.

''Perhaps it's a schoolies effect,'' Mr Olivier said.

''As long as they're eating, drinking and spending their parents' money, there may be hope.''

Graduates also took a hit in November, with online opportunities falling by 20.2 per cent.

''Competition for entry-level jobs next year will be fierce,'' Mr Olivier said. AAP