Job vacancies drop in July

The Department of Labour's latest Job Vacancy Monitor reveals a weakening labour market.

There were 6351 advertised job vacancies in July, 8 per cent fewer than in the same period 12 months earlier.

This was a reversal from a peak of 26 per cent growth in job vacancies in April 2004 from a year ago.

Vacancies have declined in every month since October 2005 compared to the same period a year earlier.

But despite the declines there were still 18 per cent more advertised vacancies in July 2006 than in July 2003, the first July month measured by this series.

The monthly report is based on the number of advertised vacancies across 25 regional newspapers and on selected websites.

The number of highly skilled vacancies in July was 8 per cent lower than the level a year ago, the number of skilled job vacancies decreased 5 per cent and the number of semi-skilled vacancies dropped 9 per cent.

The regions experiencing the highest vacancy growth in July 2006 compared to 12 months earlier were Gisborne, up 18 per cent, Bay of Plenty, up 19 per cent, and Taranaki, up 12 per cent.

The regions experiencing the largest declines were Wellington, down 21 per cent, Nelson/Tasman, down 17 per cent, and Auckland down 15 per cent. The decline in Wellington was largely for technical reasons as the number of vacancies measured in July was abnormally high.

- NZPA