Slight drop in job postings in September

According to labor market data SEEK, the number of job postings decreased slightly in September.

SEEK’s latest New Zealand employment report shows that despite a 0.5% decline in September compared to August, job postings fell by a much larger 29% year on year.

“For the first time in 12 months, job applications have also fallen,” says SEEK New Zealand regional manager Rob Clarke.

The number of job applications, which SEEK records with a one-month lag, fell in August, falling 2% month-on-month.

Auckland, Wellington and Bay of Plenty recorded a 1% decline in job postings, while Waikato and Otago saw a 3% decline, according to SEEK.

“While Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty recorded slight declines, Canterbury bucked the trend, rising 6% month-on-month,” says Clarke.

In smaller regions, job postings in Gisborne were up 14% month-on-month, while the West Coast recorded a 12% decline.

Over the last quarter, three regions recorded growth in advertising volumes: Bay of Plenty (1%), Northland (3%) and West Coast (12%). Applications to job advertisements increased compared to the previous month in Waikato (2%), Taranaki (13%), Tasman (5%) and Gisborne (9%).

The SEEK report showed job advert applications remained stable with no change in Wellington, where job advert applications have been rising for 12 months, the longest of any region.

Most major industries recorded little or no growth or decline in September.

“There is still some movement between industries, such as health and medical, which saw demand fall by 5%, and information and communications technology, which grew by 3% month-on-month, but the rest of the major hiring sectors saw only marginal growth and decline in September,” says Clark.

Another, more noticeable decrease in job postings in September occurred in the engineering and construction sectors – by 11% and 8%, respectively.

However, this was offset to some extent by a rise in job postings in the professional services sector, including insurance and pensions (up 27%), real estate (up 17%) and legal (up 11%).