Small growth in job market

There is a small amount of growth in the Rotorua job market.

The Rotorua job market is showing marginal signs of growth and wages have jumped in the last year, new figures reveal.

Trade Me Jobs has released data for the July-September quarter, showing the number of Rotorua job listings decreased 0.2 per cent from the previous quarter but was up 2.2 per cent year-on-year.

The biggest job growth was in hospitality, agriculture and government and council. Unemployment fell to 5.9 per cent from 8.1 per cent in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, newly-released Statistics New Zealand data shows the median weekly wage and salary income for Bay of Plenty workers increased 4.6 per cent to $774 in the year to June, putting more money in workers' pockets. Rotorua-specific figures were unavailable.

Personnel Resources Rotorua team leader Angelique Tizard said the average weekly income figure would be correct for an administrative role, such as a personal assistant.

"We've been so busy, there's four of us working here now, our board is absolutely full of jobs.

"At the moment we're specifically short of accountants or any accounts and admin type staff. We're desperate for those kind of candidates."

It was sometimes difficult to match clients with jobs that required specific skill sets, she said.

Qualified office juniors were hard to find.

"I think it's just finding those candidates that are nicely groomed, turn up to work on time, don't have any sick days. They don't have that much experience so they have to have initiative.

"We're still getting some awesome candidates, they get snapped up really quickly."

The number of job vacancies nationwide advertised on Trade Me jumped nearly 10 per cent in the last quarter, led by growth in marketing, media and communications roles.

People in IT-related positions are the country's highest earners and Wellington has topped the regions for the best average pay rate.

"We're becoming confident that the buoyancy in the Kiwi job market isn't a temporary affair," head of Trade Me Jobs Peter Osborne said.

"It reflects an increasing confidence as employers look to boost investment in new staff."

Roles in marketing, media and communications have risen 18.8 per cent compared to a year ago.

Other strong performing sectors were construction and architecture, government and council, and HR and recruitment.

Housekeepers, kitchen staff, receptionists, retail assistants, and labourers were all at the bottom of the wage food chain, earning in the low to mid-$30,000 range.