Job ads hold steady in April

Online job advertisements held steady in April, up just 0.1 per cent, according to the latest Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) report.  This brings the annual increase to 11.7 per cent. Industries that saw increases include construction and engineering, up two per cent month-to-month, and hospitality and tourism, up 1.7 per cent. Sales, retail, marketing and advertising remained flat at 0.1 per cent. Five of the eight industries surveyed had increasing job ad numbers last month. Construction and engineering also had the highest annual increase, up 17.2 per cent between April 2016 and April 2017. This was followed by hospitality and tourism, up 16.2 per cent. Sales, retail, marketing and advertising job ads are up 10.4 per per cent for the year, slightly below the national average growth.  Information technology job ads continue to drop, down 0.3 per cent for the month and 14 per cent for the year. Within occupation groups, labourers saw the highest increase, with job ads up 1.7 per cent in April. This was followed by clerical and administration, up 1.3 per cent, and machinery drivers and operators, up 0.9 per cent month-on-month. The occupation group with the highest yearly growth in job ads was machinery drivers, up 26 per cent, followed by labourers, up 18.9 per cent, and sales, up 15.8 per cent for the year.  “Increased building activity and visitor numbers are reflected in increased advertisements for construction and hospitality jobs. Overall, job advertisements were steady in April, following a period of above-average growth,” says labour market trends manager Nita Zodgekar.