Auckland job market feels the effect of brief lockdown

Thursday, 11 March 2021

February's three-day Covid-19 lockdown in Auckland appears to have had a knock-on effect on the city's job market.

According to employment website Seek says job ads fell 3 per cent in Auckland during February compared to the previous month, although nationally they fell only a marginal 0.3 per cent.

Wellington and Canterbury experienced strong monthly job ad growth of 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

Seek NZ general manager Janet Faulding said February’s community outbreak in Auckland pressed pause on some employers’ hiring intentions, but the decrease nationally had been small due to '’the recruitment boom that typically kicks off the new year’’.

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Annually, the picture was looking better also, with job ads down just 2 per cent.

Faulding said that was the smallest year-on-year difference in the past 12 months, suggesting ''sustained improvement to the national job market.” While short regional lockdowns remained a risk, the job market was on track to return to pre-Covid levels.

In the main centres, Auckland job ads were down 12 per cent annually and by 1 per cent Canterbury, but Wellington was racing ahead with 6 per cent more ads than last February.

Industries with the fastest job growth month on month included the retail and consumer products industries, up 13 per cent, construction (up 7 per cent) and trades and services (up 5 per cent).

Jobs in consumer services was up 10 per cent, although it still lagged behind other sectors, down 12 per cent on a yearly basis.

Provincially, the region with the biggest jump in ads was Southland where they rose 18 per cent on a monthly basis and 11 per cent annually.