The short three-day lockdown in Auckland had a marked impact on the job market after an otherwise strong start to 2021.
A newly released report by employment site Seek revealed a dip in advertised jobs in Auckland in February.
Seek spokeswoman Janet Faulding said the 2 per cent drop after a strong January was most likely a dip in confidence after the short and sharp lockdown.
"February's Covid-19 community outbreak in Auckland and the resulting move into Alert Level 3 in the region pressed pause on some employers' hiring intentions, but overall, the road to recovery remains strong," Faulding said.
"Despite Auckland experiencing a 3 per cent decline month-on-month in job ad listings in the month of February, the recruitment boom that typically kicks off the new year led to a small decrease of 0.3 per cent nationally when compared to January 2021."
Despite the slight decline in Auckland other areas experienced strong ad growth, including 3 per cent in Wellington and 2 per cent in Canterbury.
"While New Zealand remains on high-alert for Covid and we continue to experience short periods of regional lockdown, our national recovery appears to be on track as we bridge the gap to pre-Covid levels," Faulding said.