Job advertisements eked out a 3% increase in July, their first month-on-month gain since January, employment marketplace SEEK says.
SEEK's latest NZ employment report shows, however, that despite July's month-on-month increase, job ads were down 29% year-on-year.
"While it is pleasing to see an increase in job ad volumes, this comes after five months of consecutive declines, including an 8% fall in June," SEEK's NZ Country Manager Rob Clark says.
Applications per job, which SEEK records with a one month lag, held steady in June, rising 7% month-on-month.
All regions bar three recorded a job ad volume rise in July, with the falls coming in Southland (-12%), Tasman (-4%), and Gisborne (-1%). SEEK says Bay of Plenty recorded the biggest monthly increase, with job ads up 16% from June, the largest monthly growth it has recorded in more than three years. The second largest rise was 10% in Manawatu.
Wellington recorded a 4% rise and Auckland 3%, also the biggest monthly increases in the two cities for more than two years.
Year-on-year, however the picture remains grim. Bay of Plenty recorded a 20% job ad volume fall, Manawatu was down 29%, Wellington 39% lower, and Auckland fell 29%. Marlborough, which was up 1% month-on-month in July, was down 45% year-on-year.
SEEK says demand among job candidates was spread across most regions, with a 15% increase in applications per job ad in Hawke's Bay month-on-month, 10% in Canterbury and 7% in Auckland.
Customer-facing industries recorded significant growth, with retail an consumer products up 24% month-on-month, hospitality and tourism up 20%, and government and defence jobs increasing 22%. Consulting and strategy was the only industry where job ads declined in July, with a drop of 7%.
White collar and service industry roles drove the increase in job ads in the major cities, SEEK says, while elsewhere the construction sector recorded a 14% increase in job ads.
"As seasonal industries that are prone to fluctuation, the rise in volumes in retail and consumer products and hospitality and tourism may be a sign of businesses preparing for busier seasons," Clark says.
"What hasn’t changed this month is the fierce competition among candidates, which shows no sign of abating."
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