SEEK NZ quarterly employment report - moderate growth

STATE OF THE NATION:

• SEEK job ad listings have increased by 0.9% compared to Q3 2018
• Average advertised salary is up by 3.3% compared to Q3 2018
• Sectors with the highest job ad growth include: Community Services & Development (31.4%), Government & Defence (18.2%), Education & Training (17.8%) and Marketing & Communications (15.6%)
• The four top industries showing salary growth include: Farming, Animals and Conservation (8%), Consulting & Strategy (5.9%), Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics (5.9%) and Retail & Consumer Products (5.2%)

STATE OF THE REGIONS:

• Job ad growth has remained strong in key regional areas, with increases in Bay of Plenty (8.4%), Waikato (6.6%) and Manawatu (6.0%)
• The West Coast (9.7%) and Northland (9%) led salary growth y/y

The SEEK New Zealand Employment Report identifies moderate growth in job ads in comparison to the same period in 2018 with an increase of 0.9% in jobs advertised year on year for quarter three.

SEEK New Zealand General Manager, Janet Faulding says: “While there is much conversation occurring about business and employer confidence being reported as low and employment intentions anything but booming, job ad volumes reflect moderate growth on the same period from last year.

“This is great news particularly for our regions where we know there has been population growth. If we look at Waikato for example, we are seeing more roles contributing to growth, including Information & Communication Technology, Retail, Construction and Trades and Services. Across the region, we know more houses are being built, more people are moving to the region which leads to an increase in employment opportunities in the area.”

BNZ’s Senior Markets Economist, Craig Ebert suggests that with the steadying of job ad growth there have also been glimmers of positivity from employment intentions reported in recent business surveys.

“The very latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion, for example, recorded a three-month outlook on staffing better than it was a quarter ago, setting it further above its long-term average,” says Craig.  

JOB AD TRENDS

Figure 1: Job ad growth by region July – September 2019 vs July – September 2018

Figure 2: Job ad growth by industry July – September 2019 vs July – September 2018

SALARY TRENDS

The nation’s average advertised salary shows an increase of 3.3% to $81,102. While the three major cities (Auckland 3.3%, Canterbury 1.1% and Wellington 4.5%) all experienced salary growth, the biggest increases are apparent in the regions of the West Coast (9.7%), Northland (9%) and Manawatu (6.9%).

Table 3: SEEK advertised salaries July – September 2019 vs July – September 2018.

By industry, Farming, Animals and Conservation salaries saw the highest surge compared to Q3 2018 (averaging an 8% increase) followed by Community Services & Development (averaging a 6.8% increase).

Table 4: Biggest percentage growth of average advertised salaries by sector July – September 2019 vs July – September 2018.

Download SEEK employment data

MEDIA NOTE: When reporting SEEK data, we request that you attribute SEEK as the source.