Source: Radio New Zealand
Construction jobs recorded the strongest monthly growth. UnSplash/ Silvia Brazzoduro
The number of jobs ads stalled in December, ending six months of consecutive increases.
The latest SEEK NZ employment report shows job ads fell 0.3 percent in December, compared with November, but still ended the year 6.7 percent higher than a year earlier.
SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark said he was not reading too much into a single month’s data.
“This first decline in ad volumes in more than a year was only slight, but it has halted the stable-to-positive trend we were enjoying throughout 2025,” he said.
“Despite the pause, some sectors are demonstrating positive longer-term momentum.”
Meanwhile, applications per job declined by just 0.1 percent, indicating that competition for jobs remained strong.
Construction job ads recorded the strongest monthly growth, rising 3.4 percent, followed by engineering, and trades and services.
On an annual basis, demand for construction workers rose 42.9 percent, which Clark attributed to major infrastructure projects getting under way.
“Ongoing and new investment in major infrastructure projects continues to drive employment growth in the construction and affiliated industries, with most regions recording rising demand for workers in those roles,” he said.
Growth in job ads was strongest in the South Island and in the provincial regions of the North Island.
Job ads remained weak in Auckland, falling 1.1 percent in December and 0.7 percent over the year.
Wellington was unchanged in December, but total job ads were up 9.4 percent year‑on‑year, albeit from a low base.
Clark attributed the challenges in Auckland and Wellington to the types of jobs their economies supported.
“Not all sectors are growing, with softer activity in the professional and consumer services, and public sectors stagnating monthly growth in Wellington and leading to a decline in Auckland,” he said.
Despite the December result, Clark was upbeat about the outlook for jobs in the year ahead, pointing to improving signals in recent data releases.
“Overall, the long‑term data points to a recovering labour market, with pockets of expanding opportunity – albeit at a measured pace – as we head into 2026.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
