Job Vacancies And Leading Indicator of Employment Grow

MEDIA RELEASE
13 MAY 2011
Job Vacancies And Leading Indicator of Employment Grow Moderately

The latest Jobs Online index shows continuing growth in vacancies, led by demand for skilled workers.

Online skilled job vacancies were 5.1% higher in April 2011 than at the end of January 2011, and 27.4% higher than a year ago.

Overall, vacancies increased by 4.2% between January and April and by 24.1% on a year earlier.

This trend is reflected in the Department of Labour’s quarterly Leading Indicator of Employment (LIoE) which forecasts moderate employment growth over the coming quarters.

After reaching a trough during the second half of 2009, the LIoE index has been rising steadily over the last six quarters. It predicts employment growth of 0.5% in the June quarter, rising to between 0.5% and 0.9% in the September and December quarters of this year.

The Department of Labour’s Head of Research, Vasantha Krishnan, says, “Vacancy growth was moderate in most regions and similar growth in the LIoE was reported nationally.”

The South Island excluding Canterbury led demand for skilled workers, with vacancies growing 11% in the three months, while Canterbury was next at 4.9%, followed by Wellington at 4.8% and Auckland at 3.6%.

“Strong growth of nearly 16% in construction and engineering vacancies in Canterbury come as the rebuild is being anticipated after the two earthquakes,” Ms Krishnan says.

Industries with the biggest growth nationally were accounting, HR, legal and admin (up by 11.5%) and construction and engineering (up by 9.3%).

The Household Labour Force Survey showed a 1.4% rise in employment over the March 2011 quarter, which was stronger than market expectations.

ENDS

• Jobs Online provides information on the demand for labour by monitoring the number of jobs advertised on SEEK and Trade Me Jobs. Jobs Online is adjusted for seasonal variations.

• The LIoE index combines five economic indicators which historically have been shown to lead turning points in the employment cycle.

• The April Jobs Online report is available at: http://dol.govt.nz/publications/jol/report/

• For information about Jobs Online visit the Department of Labour website: http://dol.govt.nz/publications/jol/methodology/

• For more information about the Department of Labour Leading Indicator of Employment is available at: http://www.dol.govt.nz/publications/lmr/lioe/index.asp

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