Lift in number of jobs being advertised

It's good news for Rotorua job hunters with new figures revealing a jump in the number of advertised listings.

Local job listings increased 3 per cent last quarter on the previous three months, according to Trade Me Jobs - though the website would not reveal actual numbers citing commercial sensitivity.

Personnel Resources team leader Angelique Tizard said there had been a "huge increase" in Rotorua jobs, including IT, engineering, maintenance and administration managers.

"It's definitely busy now, and in the last quarter [we've] definitely noticed a pick-up."

Many workers currently in employment had been changing roles, Ms Tizard said.

"There seem to be always so many people looking for work - it seems to be never-ending and unfortunately you can't find work for every single person that comes through our door."

More vacancies were expected over coming months within existing and new businesses, she said.

Talent ID recruitment specialist Mandy Pol said she believed the number of jobs had been steady.

She said because of a large number of redundancies there were quite a few people looking for work and there were large candidate pools for jobs.

People tended to be more inclined to stick to their current jobs because of the economic climate, she said.

Tradestaff Bay of Plenty area manager Geoff Campbell said the last quarter had been a good one for the company.

He said while the growth looked positive, it was dangerous to celebrate too quickly with several significant layoffs locally which had seen a number of people out of work.

As local specialists in the trade recruitment sector, Mr Campbell said that there was always demand for qualified tradespeople and it remained fairly steady.

An analysis of over 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 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.

"Farmers are still hiring despite the dry weather, with advertised vacancies up 25 per cent on the same period last year," Ms Ryder said.

"Roles in civil and structural engineering also had a solid boost, with the number of available positions lifting 92 per cent on last year."

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."

Data from the SEEK New Job Ad Index - also released this week - found new job advertisements on the website were up 4.9 per cent compared to March 2012.

The figures follow a government announcement trumpeting a 29,000 fall in the number of Kiwis receiving benefits - the lowest number of beneficiaries at this time of year since 2009.

Rotorua jobs