Online vacancies continue upward trend

Online vacancies continue upward trend

Online job vacancies for skilled workers were flat in December but continue an upward trend, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s latest Jobs Online report.

The latest seasonally adjusted results reveal that online advertisements for skilled workers rose by 0.2 per cent in December from the previous month, with increases in the healthcare and medical (2.1 per cent) and construction and engineering (1.2 per cent) industries offsetting decreases in all others. Overall, the growth in online job vacancies was weak (0.1 per cent), following a 1.5 per cent increase in November 2013.

By occupation group, the biggest increase in skilled worker vacancies was for technicians and trade workers (up 5.1 per cent). By region, vacancies for skilled workers in the South Island rose but fell in all regions in the North Island. The Canterbury region showed the largest increase at 1.8 per cent, followed by the South Island (excluding Canterbury) region (up 1.5 per cent). The growth in skilled vacancies in the Canterbury region was largely driven by increases in the accounting, HR, legal and administration (up 30.5%), hospitality and tourism (up 25.2%), and construction and engineering (up 20.9%) industries.

Over the year to December, skilled vacancies increased by 11.7%, while all vacancies increased by 15.4%.

“Skilled vacancies should grow at a slow pace at the beginning of the year and then pick up as economic growth broadens across regions,” said the Ministry’s manager of Labour Market and Business Performance, David Paterson.

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