"We're still waiting to see the employment market pick up," Mr Mackey said.
"There's employers at the moment that are in the organisation stage of working out contracts so that pick-up may still come."
Most jobs advertised required some level of skill, he said.
"There's quite a lot of jobs in the office and commercial industries. They're mostly temporary call-centre and data-processing roles but they still require a certain level of skill.
"There's also jobs in the likes of roading that require applicants to have certain certification."
Mr Mackey said there was a shortage of such expertise. "There's a definite skill shortage in Wanganui as there is in much of the country."
He hoped the market would improve in coming months but said winter months were generally quieter.
The latest Statistics New Zealand data showed 19,341 Wanganui residents were in the labour force at the 2013 Census, a slight decrease from the 2006 Census.
Nationally, new job adverts were up 3.7 per cent year-on-year but down 2.8 per cent on January.
Seek New Zealand general manager Janet Faulding said growing economic confidence had pushed up year-on-year listings.
"Factors such as falling fixed mortgage rates and higher property prices are all contributing to optimism in the local economy," she said.
The education and training industry had the biggest increase in listings - up 18 per cent on February 2014.
Early childhood listings were up by 43 per cent, primary teaching listings by 150 per cent and secondary teaching listings by 65 per cent.
Ms Faulding said the education advertisement growth was strongest in Wellington and Auckland, while Canterbury's education-sector employment was still affected by the many post-quakes school closures.
Statistics NZ analysis of the 2013 Census showed more people were working full time when they were over 65 but the number of people working 50 hours or more a week had dropped.
