Job ads 15% higher last month compared to four years ago

Job ad numbers were up in January but the rate of applications for vacancies dropped, data from recruitment website Seek shows.

The Seek NZ Employment Report for February showed job ads rose 1% month-on-month and were 15% higher compared to February 2019.

Rob Clark, Seek NZ country manager said candidate activity fell for the first time in a year, with applications per job ad dropping 7% in January.

However, application levels remained strong in comparison to pre-Covid after 12 months of steady growth.

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“Job ads rose only slightly in February, due to increasing demand in the construction and consumer services sectors,” he said.

But cyclone-affected Hawke’s Bay recorded a significant drop in job ads in February, down 15% compared to January, while applications per job remained steady.

The greatest increase in job ads was recorded in Marlborough, up 12% month on month.

Applications per job ad in January rose in Waikato (4%), Manawatu (1%), Tasman (6%), Southland (8%) and West Coast (6%), and fell in all other regions.

“The good news is that a bit of the heat has come out of the market since the vacancy peaks of 2022. There are still plenty of opportunities open for candidates, and businesses are increasingly seeing application levels rise,” Clark said.

Auckland and Waikato, both impacted by flooding in late January and early February, recorded no change in ad levels.

The industries driving the overall rise in job ads in February were hospitality and tourism (8%) and construction.

Within hospitality, chefs, roles in management and wait staff were in high demand, while in construction project management plant/machinery operates and foreperson and supervisor roles had increased.

Trades and services, the largest industry by volume, rose 2% month on month.

Applications per job ad fell in all the largest hiring industries, but grew in construction (3%), sales (3%) and education and training (7%).