Job advertising rebounds in July

Job advertising rose 4.2 per cent to record high levels in July, rebounding after two consecutive months of declines, an ANZ bank report showed today.

But ANZ economist Lauren Rosborough said the numbers were affected by a technical change in its monitoring method, which resulted in a steep 13.2 per cent increase in internet-based advertising.

Job advertisements placed in newspapers fell for the third month in a row, slipping 1.2 per cent after a revised 0.5 per cent drop in June.

Combined advertisements rose to 51,904 in July, after dropping a revised 0.1 per cent in June and 0.8 per cent in May.

For the year through July, combined job ads were up 9.1 per cent.

Waikato was the only area to record a rise in newspaper advertisements, gaining 3.4 per cent from June.

Auckland posted a 1.1 per cent fall in July. It had the largest annual decline of 20.4 per cent.

In Wellington, job advertising fell 2.1 per cent, after rising a revised 0.8 per cent in June.

On Thursday, data showed a greater than expected 11,000 new jobs were added in the second quarter, which analysts said would underpin the central bank's tightening bias but not prompt a rise in interest rates next month.

The central bank has kept interest rates on hold at 6.75 per cent, the highest among industrialised nations, since March but all economists in a Reuters poll expect a rate cut by the end of June 2006.

The next ANZ job advertisements series will be released on September 13.

- REUTERS