The number of job advertisements nationwide has risen for the first time in six months, according to new data from Seek.
Job ads were up 1 percent in January (month-on-month), despite still being 24 percent lower than a year ago.
Rob Clark, country manager for Seek, said the increase was driven by a jump of 20.0 pct in Manawatū, and 8.0 pct in Te Matau a Māui/Hawke's Bay.
"There was notable demand for workers in retail and consumer products, and marketing and communications," Clark said.
Job ads in retail rose 10 percent, and in accounting they rose 7 percent.
Meanwhile, the number of applications per job also rose 6 percent in December across Aotearoa. Data on applications per job has a one-month lag.
"Applications per job ad also rose for a fourth consecutive month and are again the highest on record," said Clark.
Job applications were highest in farming, animals and conservation, plus human resources and recruitment.
Clark also pointed to Tatauranga/Stats NZ's recent migration data which shows "there are more people than there are jobs".
New Zealand saw record-high net migration in the year to October of more than 128,000 people.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at the time the high level of migration was unsustainable.
