ANZ's newspaper job vacancy rate - which expresses the number of ads, seasonally adjusted, as a proportion of the number of people with jobs - fell to 5.1 per cent from 5.4 per cent in the September quarter and 5.8 per cent in the two quarters before that.
The declinewas especially steep in Auckland, to 5.7 per cent from 6.5 per cent in the September quarter and 7.9 per cent in December 2004.
ANZ economist John Bolsover said some employers might have put hiring plans on hold as growth declined. "But some just have given up because of the absence of suitable applicants."
While the vacancy rate was falling, it was still at a high level.
The continuing tightness of the labour market was also evident in last week's employment data, which showed the unemployment rate at a record low of 3.6 per cent, and wages data which recorded strong increases.
"Given the skill shortages, employers are keen to hold on to staff."
The Department of Labour also monitors job vacancies advertised in newspapers and it reported that they fell 4 per cent between December 2004 and December 2005.
It was the third month in a row with fewer ads than a year earlier and was the weakest result for three years.
"However, the present level of vacancies is still extremely high compared with 2002 and 2003, which reflects a robust labour market," a department spokesman said.
Auckland was the only region other than Nelson/Tasman to record a year-on-year decline, but because of its size it dragged the national total into negative territory.
WORKERS WANTED
* 84,000 jobs were advertised in the Situations Vacant columns in the December quarter.
* That was down from 89,000 in September and 100,000 in December 2004.
* In Auckland, 37,000 jobs were advertised, down 4000 for the quarter and 12,000 on a year earlier.
Job advertising declined in the last three months of last year, providing additional evidence of a softening but still tight labour market.
