Another sign of hope on the horizon for jobseekers

The latest quarterly Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index has risen for the first time in over two years, off the back of a three-and-a-half-year low.

Public sector workers are more pessimistic than private sector workers about their earning prospects.

But there's growing confidence, across the board, about the availability of jobs.

Westpac Senior Economist Michael Gordon says this result -- along with this week's job numbers -- suggest the unemployment rate won't go much higher than five-percent.