NZD: ANZ New Zealand Job Ads Back on the Job – ANZ
Sharon Zollner, Senior Economist at ANZ, notes that the NZ’s jobs ads
rose strongly in March, and have now more than made up the ground lost
in January, restoring the upward trend.
Key Quotes
“Job
ads lifted 2.9% in March (seasonally adjusted), building on a 1.2% rise
in February, suggesting January weakness was transitory. Total job
advertising is up 1.7% versus a year ago (3-month average), having come
very close last month to going negative for the first time in six years.
Internet job advertising lifted 2.8% (sa) in March, while
newspaper job advertising rose 4.4% m/m (sa), but remains on a downward
trend.
Of the regions, Hawke’s Bay is still in front but tiring,
with the growth rate in job ads versus a year ago falling from 17.7% to
just 10.0% (3-month average) after dipping in two of the past three
months. Auckland continues to look pretty solid at +8.5% y/y, while the
Canterbury labour market continues to weaken with job ads down 15.3%
y/y.
Job ads data for the first three months of 2016 suggests a
degree of caution may have crept in on the part of employers, but they
are certainly not shutting up shop.”