Skilled workers scarce, workforce figures show

By BRIAN FALLOW

WELLINGTON - Two economic indicators out yesterday reinforced the picture of a slowing economy in Auckland, but better times in the provinces.

The number of job vacancies advertised in the New Zealand Herald fell for the sixth month in a row in May, though it remains 7.7 per cent ahead of May last year.

Nationwide ANZ Bank's job ads series remained unchanged last month and within 2 per cent of its peak in November last year.

The national figure of 28,000 is similar to levels recorded at the peak of the previous economic cycle in 1995 and 1996.

ANZ counts job ads in newspapers in the three main centres and in Waikato, Otago, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay.

Other indicators showed that the labour market remained tight, ANZ said. Fulltime employment rose in the first three months of the year, the fifth consecutive quarter to record an increase, while business surveys and the anecdotal evidence suggest firms are finding it increasingly difficult to find skilled workers.

Though wage inflation has so far remained subdued, this combination of relatively low unemployment, ongoing growth in fulltime employment and skilled labour shortages underlined the risk of higher wage inflation over the next 12 to 18 months.

Meanwhile, April's drop in the world prices of New Zealand export commodities was partially reversed in May.

ANZ's world commodity price index rose 0.5 per cent in May following a 2.6 per cent drop in April. It is still 6.5 per cent up on May last year and 12.6 per cent up on its low in December 1998.