Decrease in skilled job vacancies in August

Media release
18 September 2013

Decrease in skilled job vacancies in August

Online job vacancies for skilled workers have fallen following an increase in the past month, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s latest Jobs Online report.

The latest seasonally adjusted results show that online advertisements for skilled workers fell by 2.1 per cent in August. Overall, online job vacancies fell by 3.7 per cent.

Vacancies for skilled workers decreased in most industry groups. The biggest falls were in the healthcare and medical industry (down 9.6 per cent), and the accounting, HR and administration industry (down 6.0 per cent). The construction and engineering industry had the largest monthly rise (up 5.8 per cent), followed by the hospitality and tourism industry (up 1.4 per cent).

The only regional increase in skilled worker vacancies was in the North Island (excluding Auckland and Wellington) which was up 2.6 per cent. The biggest fall was in the South Island (excluding Canterbury), down 13.3 per cent, followed by Auckland (down 3.4 per cent) and Canterbury (down 1.5 per cent).

Over the past year, vacancies for skilled workers in Auckland had the biggest rise at 4.7 per cent, followed by Canterbury (up 4.5 per cent). In Canterbury the largest increases were in the hospitality and tourism (up 23.0 per cent), sales, retail, marketing and advertising (up 11.5 per cent) and construction and engineering (up 8.7 per cent) industries.

“There has been an upward trend in skilled vacancies over the year. However, there are regional disparities, with Canterbury, Auckland and the rest of the North Island (excluding Auckland and Wellington) growing, while other regions have declined,” said the Ministry’s acting manager of Labour Market and Business Performance, Ben Wallace.

More information on Jobs Online is available at www.dol.govt.nz/publications/jol/index.asp.

ENDS

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