The number of job vacancies fell 1.9 per cent over the three months to August, with the drop in classifieds accelerating from the previous quarter.

Employers in August advertised 235,100 positions, according to seasonally adjusted data released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Public sector vacancies rose 5.9 per cent but vacancies in the much larger private sector fell 2.7 per cent during the quarter.

The figures follow a 1.6 per cent fall in the May quarter and suggest the rate of unemployment could creep above the 5.3 per cent recorded in August.

Overall Australian job roles decreased by 1.9 per cent over the past year, with falls of 9.2 per cent in Victoria, 7.6 per cent in NSW and 3.4 per cent in South Australia.

Openings in the past 12 months increased by 21.9 per cent in Tasmania and were up 18.7 per cent in the Northern Territory.

-AAP