Growth in skilled job vacancies indicate gradual improvement

The number of skilled job vacancies advertised online continued to grow in August, according to the latest analysis by the Labour and Immigration Research Centre, a service of the Department of Labour.

The latest results from the Department’s Jobs Online shows that skilled job vacancies increased in most regions, in most industries and in all major occupation groups in August.

“These results indicate that employment prospects are improving as demand for skilled labour increases,” says Dr Dafydd Davies, Manager of Labour Market Analysis for the Department of Labour.

“Over the next year, we expect the labour market to continue to recover, although any significant improvement in labour market conditions is not expected until later in 2012 when economic growth is forecast to strengthen. However, future growth in the economy may be constrained by the volatile global economic climate.”

Overall, online skilled job vacancies increased by 3.9% in August; and 21.3% over the past year. Total vacancies went up by 6.3% in August and by 21.7% over the past year.

Industries with the biggest growth nationally were sales, retail, marketing and advertising (up by 10.6%); accounting, HR, legal and admin (up by 6.4%); and healthcare and medical (up by 5.0%).

The South Island region (excluding Canterbury) led demand for skilled workers, with skilled vacancies growing 8.7% in the last month.

The Jobs Online report for August also looks in detail at skilled job vacancies in Canterbury.

“Before the earthquakes, Canterbury was recovering from the recession with falling unemployment and rising job vacancies. Following the earthquakes, Canterbury saw both high unemployment and high job vacancies,” says Dr Davies.

Over the past year, Canterbury saw strong growth in skilled vacancies in the construction and engineering industry due to the reconstruction activities in the region. A slight decline in hiring between July and August indicates a lull in hiring in these industries.

The hospitality and tourism industry in Canterbury has been impacted by the earthquakes, with a decline in skilled job vacancies in August and over the past year.