Auckland’s lockdown has taken a bite out of the city’s job market, new data shows.
Job vacancy website Seek said the number jobs advertised nationwide in September was up 0.3 per cent compared with August.
But the number of Auckland-based roles dropped by 8 per cent on the month before.
With Auckland excluded, the number of job ads nationally was up 7 per cent. Wellington’s jobs were up 4 per cent and Canterbury 9 per cent.
Seek country manager Rob Clark said it was a “tale of two parts”.
“Of the 28 industries that we categorise, 20 saw a decline in Auckland from August to September. If we look nationally and exclude Auckland, then only eight industries experienced a drop,” Clark said.
“Hospitality and tourism is an industry that reacts to changing conditions quickly. The industry has dropped 35 per cent in Auckland month-on-month, which contributes to a national drop of 22 per cent.”
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Excluding Auckland, there had been a 6 per cent increase nationally in this sector.
“I am confident that as soon as restrictions ease, roles in Auckland will bounce back too, as we have seen after previous lockdowns.”
Clark said trades and services vacancies were down in Auckland by 17 per cent, but up nationally by 6 per cent. But excluding the Auckland lockdown-affected figures, there was a 20 per cent increase month-on-month across NZ.
The number of people applying for jobs is lower than two years ago. But 44 per cent more jobs were advertised this September than the same month 2019.
There was a 26 per cent drop in the number of job applications sent through this September compared with the same month in 2019.
There were 5 million visits to the job-seeker site last month but the proportion of those hits that led to someone applying for the job more than halved from the same month in 2019.
“Visits to Seek are strong, showing that people are monitoring job activity but being hesitant to move roles just yet.”
With the borders closed, salaries have increased this year.
Between April and September, the national average salary rose from $64,700 to $67,400 according to Trade Me Jobs.
Trade Me Jobs sales director Matt Tolich reported salaries had a record-breaking quarter with the national average pay reaching $66,106, an 8 per cent jump when compared to the same period last year. It was the largest yearly increase Trade Me had ever recorded.
The top three industries showing an increase in vacancies on Seek were healthcare and medical up 10 per cent, construction 9 per cent, and trades and services showing a 6 per cent increase on August.
In contrast, the top three category drops in vacancy numbers were hospitality and tourism, sports and recreation and legal.
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