Kiwis also optimistic on job security, report finds
Kiwis' confidence in the labour market slightly rose slightly to 95.6 in the March quarter, driven by the gradual increase in available jobs over the past months.
The Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index went up by 1.8 points in the March quarter to reach its highest reading since early 2024.
Despite this increase, a level below 100 indicates that more households are still pessimistic about the outlook than those who are optimistic, according to the index.
By region, only Gisborne/Hawke's Bay reached an optimistic outlook with with a reading of 100.1 in the March quarter, up from 93.5 in December 2025.
However, the biggest jumps in labour market confidence were recorded in Wellington, with a 10.3-point increase, and Waikato, with a 10.1-point increase.
Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast saw the biggest drop in labour market confidence after sliding by 11.4 points from 100.8 to 89.4.
Increase in job ads
A strong driver of rising labour market confidence is the gradual increase in job ads over the past months, according to the index.
"A net 46% of respondents in the March survey felt that it's hard to find a job at the moment. That was the least negative reading since December 2024," the report read.
This finding comes as various indicators show New Zealand's labour market making a solid start to the year.
The Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion found that hiring intentions had turned a net positive for the first time in two years.
SEEK NZ also noted that the labour market has a "strong start to 2026." Job ads have been on the rise since the beginning of the year, and were up 12.2% year on year in February, the strongest annual increase since 2022.
Optimism about job security
Meanwhile, the report found that Kiwis were "more optimistic" about their own job security for this year.
High-income earners, who were the most confident, saw a smaller improvement in job security.
Middle-income workers saw the biggest improvement in job confidence, according to the report, while low-income workers were less confident.
"The lift in perceived job security was seen among men and older workers. Younger workers were slightly less confident, though that followed a strong lift in the December quarter," the report read.
Westpac, however, cautioned that the survey was carried out over March 1 to 12, which covered the early days of the conflict in the Middle East.
"While that encompassed the early days of the Iran conflict, it may be that households (and employers for that matter) only became aware of the consequences towards the end of this period, as fuel prices began to rise sharply," Westpac said.
"As such, it's unclear to what extent this level of confidence will be maintained in the months ahead."
