Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Australian advertisements for job vacancies fell in October for the first time in three months, a sign a boost to the nation’s economy from government spending may be waning.

Jobs advertised in newspapers and on the Internet dropped 1.7 percent from September, according to an Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. report released in Melbourne today. Advertisements were 44.9 percent lower than a year earlier.

Signs of an economic recovery, including a rebound in consumer confidence and demand from China for natural resources, were among reasons central bank Governor Glenn Stevens raised the benchmark interest rate last week by a quarter percentage point for a second month to 3.5 percent. The unemployment rate, which unexpectedly fell in September for the first time in five months, probably rose in October to 5.8 percent from 5.7 percent, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

“These results highlight that the recovery of the Australian economy is still vulnerable to setbacks,” said Warren Hogan, chief economist at ANZ Bank in Sydney.

“While some normalization of official interest rates appears warranted as the economy continues to recover, we would caution against a rapid increase in rates over the near-term,” he added.

National vacancies advertised in newspapers and on the Internet averaged 133,709 a week last month, today’s report showed. Newspaper advertisements fell 1.4 percent to an average 8,800 a week. Internet notices slipped 1.8 percent to 124,909.

Employers probably cut 10,000 jobs last month, according to the median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg ahead of a Nov. 12 employment report.

To contact the reporters for this story: Jacob Greber in Sydney at jgreber@bloomberg.netRebecca Keenan in Melbourne at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 19:30 EST