Source: Radio New Zealand
The latest SEEK employment report shows job ads rose 0.9 percent in February. 123rf
A slow warming in the job market appears to be broadening out into a more meaningful market shift.
The latest SEEK employment report shows job ads rose 0.9 percent in February, the ninth consecutive monthly increase. It took annual ad growth to 12.2 percent, the strongest annual rise since 2022.
SEEK country manager Rob Clark said the growth was led by industries like construction, engineering and farming.
“If you track the last 18 months, we had a significant decline in job advertising, then it was pretty flat and now we’re seeing growth,” Clark said.
“What that says is that people are a bit more optimistic, they’re seeing some more growth opportunities, and typically that translates to hiring more people, and because we’re seeing it across most industries and most geographies, that implies that it’s a genuine market movement.”
The report shows there is less competition for the jobs being advertised, with applications per ad falling 2.4 percent from the month prior, off the peak seen in August last year.
Only a few sectors are in decline and they include retail and consumer products, as well as banking and financial services. All of the largest sectors saw improvement, according to SEEK’s report.
“The longer-term picture is roles in engineering, farming, construction, trades, healthcare are all growing at about 20 percent year-on-year,” Clark said.
“So they’re the key drivers of activity at the moment.”
Whether the momentum is likely to continue in the same direction is unclear, said Clark, although confidence could take a hit as a result of the Middle East conflict.
South Island regions still the engine driving jobs growth
The South Island showed some of the strongest growth year-on-year with Otago up 23 percent, Southland up 21.3 percent and West Coast up 20.9 percent and Canterbury up 20 percent.
“What we’re seeing is the South Island growing well ahead of everywhere else, and obviously they have a strong agricultural base,” Clark said.
“We’re seeing growth there driven by both a strong ag sector and population movement with a lot of internal migration from other parts of New Zealand to the South Island, because there are more opportunities there.”
Urban centres like Auckland and Wellington are showing little momentum, according to the SEEK report.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
