Job market steady in August

Job market steady in August

Amid the changing economic climate in New Zealand it seems one metric is standing steady. The SEEK Employment Report released today shows that jobs increased slightly in August, growing 0.1 per cent in a month that brought a mixed bag of broader economic performance indicators.

“The last six months have delivered a relatively flat employment market in New Zealand and August was no different. But things are still looking better than this time last year with new job ads up 1.3 per cent when compared to August 2014,” states Janet Faulding, General Manager of SEEK New Zealand.

“In line with steady job performance we have noted continued growth in applications… up 2.7% for the 18,000 jobs advertised on seek.co.nz in August, which is hardly surprising given the growth in the New Zealand unemployment rate, which currently sits at 5.9 per cent”.

Auckland continues to be the key contributor to the country’s job growth. Home to a third of the country’s population and a significant cog in New Zealand’s economy, Auckland experienced a 4.6 per cent jump in new jobs advertised in August, delivering an annual gain of 9.2 per cent.

“Growth in the Auckland job market has been driven by significant increases in Legal Advertising, Arts and Media industries and of course, those jobs related to the property industry. The Real Estate and Property sector notched up a 32 per cent increase in jobs over the last 12 months. Design and Architectural roles delivered a 23 per cent increase and there were 10 per cent more Construction jobs than this time last year,” says Ms Faulding.

Auckland’s strong performance is in clear contrast to Canterbury where job market volatility continues. August was the second consecutive month the region saw a decline in new job ad growth. At the same time we also saw a drop in applications off very robust jobseeker activity in July.

Currently there are more than 18,500 jobs advertised on New Zealand’s largest employment market place with over 10,000 are for Auckland based roles.

ENDS

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