NZ Job Growth Stronger Than Australia

MEDIA RELEASE
11th July 2011

NZ Job Growth Stronger Than Australia

New Zealand’s new job growth has been stronger than that in Australia over the last three months. The SEEK New Job Ad Index released today reveals that since April new job ads have risen by 1.8% in New Zealand but dipped by 0.7% in Australia.

“SEEK is the biggest job source in Australia and in New Zealand, with strong market leadership and more jobs than any other site or source in both countries. As the market leader, and with comparable measurement tools active in each country, we are able to evaluate and compare jobs and applications in each market,” says Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand.

“While the Australian labour market recovery was far stronger than in New Zealand after the global financial crisis, it is encouraging to see that New Zealand has forged ahead over the last three months in terms of new job ad growth”.

Locally, the growth in new job ads last month was driven by Canterbury and the regions. While Auckland and Wellington experienced dips in new job ad numbers of 2% and 4.6% respectively, Canterbury’s new jobs grew by 2% and South Island locations outside of Canterbury grew by 3.8%. Other North Island locations, excluding Auckland and Wellington, also posted an increase of 3.4%.

“It’s pleasing to see job growth is being driven by the regions and is not just limited to the big cities. New job ads are now 16.3% higher than the same time last year and confidence is continuing to improve around the country,” says Janet Faulding.

The SEEK Employment Index (SEI) is the first NZ indicator to measure the number of new job ads placed on seek.co.nz and compare this to applications lodged for these positions. This measure showed a slight decline in June, falling by 0.4%. This decline was driven by a comparatively bigger decline in the number of new jobs advertised than applications.

“Despite the slight decline in the SEEK Employment Index, there are still over 16,000 jobs currently advertised on www.seek.co.nz. There are numerous opportunities in all industries and regions and engineers, accountants, IT consultants and recruitment agency positions are proving rather hard to fill at the moment,” says Janet Faulding.

Job Applications
June’s top five most competitive occupations:
1. Information and Communication Technology – Help Desk and IT Support
2. Retail and Consumer Products – Retail Assistants
3. Administration and Office Support – Receptionist
4. Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics – Warehousing, Storage and Distribution
5. Hospitality and Tourism – Chefs/Cooks

The top five most competitive occupations go largely unchanged in the month of June, with just a shuffle in the rankings. Retail Assistants drop down the list to the second most competitive occupation and Help Desk and IT Support roles move into the top position with these roles receiving more applications per role than any other classification.

June’s top five most sought after employees:
1. Engineering – Civil/Structural Engineering
2. Accounting – Business Services and Corporate Advisory
3. Information and Communication Technology – Consultants
4. Human Resources & Recruitment – Recruitment Agency
5. Healthcare and Medical – Psychology, Counselling and Social Work

Unsurprisingly, Civil and Structural Engineering positions top the list of the most sought after employees in June, which can be attributed to the ongoing reconstruction in Christchurch. The demand for Accountants increased in June with a move from fifth position up to the second most sought after employees for the month. And perhaps in a telling sign of market stabilisation, recruiters feature in the top five most sought after employees.

-ENDS-

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