It's good news for Northland job hunters with figures revealing a jump in the number of advertised job listings.
Northland job listings for the January to March quarter were up 3.7 per cent on the same time last year, according to Trade Me Jobs.
Direction Recruitment manager Paula Kalkhoven said while the last two weeks of March were "very, very quiet", the firm was now "inundated" with new job listings.
"I don't know whether it's because of the new financial year or something.
"It does seem to be picking up, which is good."
Her firm specialises in finance, sales and marketing, IT, human resources and customer services.
There had also been a huge increase in "well qualified" candidates wanting a new job, Ms Kalkhoven said.
A lot of people from outside Whangarei had been moving to the city for the lifestyle, as had families who had previously lived here and wanted to settle down.
Northland had the country's highest unemployment figures at 9.5 per cent for the December quarter, according to the Stats NZ household labour force survey.
An analysis of more than 41,000 job ads listed in the first three months of 2013 shows the national employment market grew 5.3 per cent year-on-year. However, nationwide job listings were down 3.2 per cent from the December quarter.
Head of Trade Me Jobs Ginny Ryder said there were hints of a slow shift in favour of job hunters as job numbers rose, and demand for employment fell.
"That's good news for people hunting that dream job."
Job listings grew in all regions last quarter, aside from Wellington and the West Coast, with Auckland and Christchurch the employment power-houses, Ms Ryder said.
Auckland accounted for over one-third of the country's jobs. However, Wellington - buffeted by cuts to the public service - recorded a 13.9 per cent jump in applications but 7.2 per cent drop in listings year-on-year.
Canterbury job listings surged 16.5 per cent on the back of the rebuild.
Vacancies also increased significantly in Otago, Gisborne and Nelson.
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There was resurgent growth in the finance and insurance sectors and the construction sector was also booming.
"Roles for machine operators, supervisors and site managers are also growing strongly."
The New Zealand employment market was "at a crossroads".
"While business confidence has taken a dip recently with the drought in the North Island, we think the ongoing Canterbury rebuild, Fonterra pay-outs for dairy farmers and rising property prices should help offset this."
Northland jobs
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Up 3.7 per cent on the same quarter in 2012 and up 1.8 per cent on the December quarter -
$57,816 - Average advertised salary for Northland jobs -
$59,758 - Average advertised salary nationwide
