South Island regions driving job market growth
Job listings in New Zealand have gone up 13% in the last quarter, driven strongly by the South Island's strong job market growth, according to the latest Trade Me Jobs data.
Nicole Williams, Head of Trade Me Jobs, said the uptick ensured that year-on-year data stayed nearly flat, down by just 0.8%.
"This shift could indicate the tightest period of job hunter competition is finally behind us," Williams said in a statement.
In the South Island, Southland registered a huge 25.1% growth in job listings. Otago logged a 7.1% increase, while Canterbury recorded a 6.1% increase.
This is in contrast to the North Island's city centres, where Auckland and Wellington logged a -5.8% and -6.8% quarterly decrease in job listings.
"The strong listing growth in regions like Southland, Otago, and Canterbury is offsetting the quieter markets in our two biggest cities, showing that the job recovery is being led by businesses in Te Waipounamu," Williams said.
Strong growth per sector
By sector, strong job listing growth was also recorded in sectors relying on consumer activity and infrastructure spend, such as:
- Hospitality and Tourism (+16%)
- Construction and Roading (+13%)
- Trades and Services (+8.3%)
"The uplift in hospitality listings is great news for Kiwi teens looking for an entry-level job as they finish school in the next few months. They're also facing less competition, with 19% fewer applications compared to the same time last year," Williams said.
"They'll likely have a better chance of landing a job at the local café or restaurant than in retail, which has seen a 16% drop in listings and a two per cent increase in applications."
High applications, high pay offers
The findings come as New Zealand's unemployment rate hit 5.2% in the June quarter, according to the latest data from Stats NZ.
Williams noted that many New Zealanders are focusing their applications on key operational jobs, as candidate competition remained tight.
Education logged the highest increase in applications with a 50% increase, followed by the Legal (48.4%) and Accounting sectors (31.4%).
The Banking, Finance, and Insurance sector, however, recorded a drop of 43.1% in the previous quarter, reported Trade Me Jobs.
But despite the overall high rates of application interest, employers are still willing to pay more to secure talent.
The nationwide average pay stands at $72,820, a slight 0.4% drop from the previous quarter, but remains one per cent higher than the same period last year.
"Despite a minor quarter-on-quarter dip, our annual data shows that salaries continue to track upwards," Williams said.
Several industries reached record-high average salaries, including:
- Banking, Finance, and Insurance ($103,591)
- Healthcare ($78,245)
- Manufacturing & Operations ($66,958)
- Office & Administration ($67,000)
- Property ($103,813)
- Trades & Services ($73,300)
"This indicates that for roles requiring specific skills, especially those seeing high growth, employers are prepared to offer a premium to secure the right people," Williams said.
