Jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet plunged 8.6 percent last month to an average of 211,199 a week, after falling 5.9 percent in October, according to an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. report released in Melbourne today. Newspaper ads fell over the last two months by the most in the 30-year history of the survey, the bank said.

Central bank governor Glenn Stevens cut the benchmark interest rate by one percentage point last week to a six-year low 4.25 percent to help the nation’s economy avoid its first recession in 17 years. Gross domestic product rose 0.1 percent in the third quarter, the weakest pace in eight years. Employers probably cut 15,000 jobs last month, according to a survey.

“The global financial crisis has had a substantial impact on the Australian economy in the December quarter,” said Warren Hogan, head of economics at ANZ Bank in Sydney. “If the recent weakness in job ads is sustained, it would be consistent with a contraction in total employment over the first six months of 2009. This would result in a much more rapid rise in the unemployment rate than we are currently forecasting.”

Australia’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent in November from 4.3 percent in October, a report will show on Dec. 11, according to the median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The number of jobs advertised in newspapers fell 12 percent to an average of 11,767 per week, 43 percent lower than a year earlier, today’s report showed. Vacancies on the Internet slid 8.4 percent to an average 199,433 per week, 13 percent lower than 12 months ago.

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand