Canterbury job ads lead the pack

ALAN WOOD

The Canterbury earthquakes have resulted in more work opportunities in Canterbury than other regions, an online job advertisement service says.

Job website Seek said Canterbury was at the front of regional job advert growth in the past 12 months.

Nationally, job opportunities had grown by 10 per cent over the past year, with more than 250,000 jobs advertised on the website since November 2010, said Seek general manager Janet Faulding.

"The latest data from Seek shows that while the levels of growth have fluctuated over the last year, 25,000 more jobs were advertised in the year to November than in the same period last year."

She said the best month to secure a new role was August, when new job ads hit a high for the year, and predictably, the lowest number of new-job ads placed was in December 2010 as businesses wound down in the lead-up to the holiday season and hiring intentions slowed.

Applications for jobs peaked in March as New Year resolutions were put into action, Faulding said.

Canterbury emerged as the region with the strongest new-job growth at 49 per cent, or an increase of almost 900 jobs over the past 12 months.

Wellington followed with a 12 per cent increase, which was slightly above the national average and almost 400 additional roles year-on-year.

Auckland experienced slight growth of 2 per cent but remained the centre with the most opportunity in New Zealand, with a total of 138,000 jobs advertised over the past year.

Faulding said 2011 trends were overall positive, with considerable regional variation.

"In Christchurch, the new-job growth is attributed to roles necessary to support the recovery and rebuilding effort, whereas in Auckland we are seeing a slow and steady continuation of business recovery post-recession," she said.

"Interestingly, Wellington is performing very well considering the reported cuts to the public sector this year, and hiring intentions in the government industry dipping slightly in the run-up to the November election. Outside of government, we're noticing growth in a number of different areas, such as accounting and trades and services."

The top three classifications by growth in the number of job ads were accounting, growing by 430 job advertisements in the 12 months, information and communication technology, increasing by almost 400, and trades and services, which grew by 250 job ads.

In other areas there was strong growth at peak times. For example, sports and recreation, retail and hospitality and tourism all experienced a hiring flurry in the period from July to September in preparation for the Rugby World Cup.

Other industries, like administration and office support and sales, maintained strong job ad numbers throughout the year.

"Local events such as the Canterbury earthquake, the country's largest sporting event and the general election all had a strong impact on labour market activity in 2011. However, overall, the 10 per cent increase in job ads marks 2011 as a successful year in employment," Faulding said.

- © Fairfax NZ News