Job vacancies grow - but at slowest rate

27 October 2005

Job vacancies grow - but at slowest rate

The number of job vacancies advertised in newspapers across the country is still growing, but September had the slowest recorded rate, the Department of Labour said.

A one-day analysis of job ads in 25 newspapers and selected websites showed the number of job ads grew by 2 per cent in the 12 months to September 2005.

This was down from 6 per cent in August and 9 percent in July.

Chief Executive James Buwalda said job vacancy growth slowed down in a number of regions including Auckland, Nelson/Tasman and Waikato.

In Auckland, the number of job vacancies advertised grew 5 percent in the 12 months to September 2005, from 8 percent in August; in Waikato, growth slowed from 10 percent to 5 percent, and in Nelson/Tasman from -6 percent to -9 percent.

Despite the general easing in vacancy growth, some sectors continued to display rising levels of advertised vacancies.

"In areas such as highly-skilled occupations and IT, growth in the number of job vacancies advertised continued to be significant," Mr Buwalda said.

"While there are some signs that the severity of skill shortages has abated, the labour market remains tight."

Mr Buwalda said the data was in line with findings in the Department of Labour's quarterly Skills in the Labour Market Report and other recent indicators.

The Job Vacancy Monitor for September continued to show wide disparities in the growth of advertised vacancies by skill level.

Job vacancies grew significantly for highly-skilled occupations such as accountants and auditors (28%), and managers (25%), while demand for skilled occupations like finance and sales representatives eased.

Negative growth for trade vacancies was measured for the fifth month in succession.

The semi-skilled/elementary category, which includes occupations such as agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing, had its lowest recorded growth rate.

The gap between the demand for and supply of IT skills continued to grow, particularly in Christchurch and Auckland.

There were 35 percent more IT vacancies measured in September compared with the same month last year.

ENDS

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