In a sign of the churn facing the labour market, 71 per cent of businesses are planning to take on staff.

Institute chief executive Sarah McCann-Bartlett said businesses could be reorganising their operations while also recruiting for existing or new roles.

“Either way, 2024 looks a more challenging year for employers and workers,” she said.

Deloitte Access Economics is also expecting the jobs market to stumble because of the Reserve Bank’s aggressive monetary policy tightening since last May.

It is forecasting the country to create just 75,000 jobs next year, after adding more than 405,000 this year.

Deloitte partner David Rumbens said the jobs market was entering a “cool summer” as the combination of high interest rates and elevated inflation weighed on consumers and their spending plans.

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He said the manufacturing sector could shed 4 per cent of its workforce, or almost 39,000 positions, while the wholesale trade sector faced the loss of 11,200 workers over the coming year.

“Due to the high share of blue-collar workers in the manufacturing industry, the blue-collar workforce will likely bear the brunt of the labour market slowdown,” Rumbens said.

A lift in unemployment would add to the financial pressures facing many Australians, who are now forgoing medical treatments because of costs.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday the portion of people who needed to see a GP but either delayed or did not see their doctor because of cost had doubled in the past year – from 3.5 per cent in 2021-22 to 7 per cent in 2022-23. At the same time, GPs reported their average fee for a standard visit jumped from $64 last year to $75 this year.

The rate of people missing or delaying GP appointments because of cost is the highest since figures started being recorded in 2013-14.

The portion of people who skipped medication purchases jumped from 5.6 per cent to 7.6 per cent in 12 months – the highest rate since 2015-16.

Young people were the most likely to forfeit healthcare because of cost-of-living pressures.

More than 10 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds delayed or cancelled a doctor’s appointment they needed, compared to 2.3 per cent of people aged 75 to 84.

Almost 750,000 of the 3.9 million Australians who need to see a mental health professional also skipped or delayed their appointments because of money last year, including half a million who could not afford to see their psychologist.

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Dutton said the government had made decisions over two budgets that had forced the Reserve Bank to drive up interest rates.

“The government’s energy policy continues to drive up inflation, which means you’re paying more for your mortgage because it’s not just you in your family household or your small business paying more for your electricity or paying more for your groceries – it’s everybody else in the supply chain,” he said at a press conference in Victoria on Tuesday.

But Chalmers rubbished the opposition leader’s claims, pointing to ABS data that showed electricity prices would have jumped 18.6 per cent in the September quarter, but instead rose 4.2 per cent due to the government’s bill relief.

“Peter Dutton thinks he can lie about the economy all he likes, but this just proves that his nasty negativity is no substitute for economic credibility,” the treasurer said in a statement.

“He voted for higher energy prices and higher inflation in the parliament. Now he wants to pretend otherwise.”

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