The latest BNZ/SEEK Employment Report...>

NEW ZEALAND: The latest BNZ/SEEK Employment Report noted "job ads ended '19 on a

weaker note, -1.9% SA in Dec. After slight declines in Oct & Nov, this dragged

the trend measure into moderately -ve territory. The fall in December's job

advertising also meant for a 1.1% decline over 2019 as a whole. This continued a

slowdown that's been underway since growth in '16 hit 10.6%. The softening in

job ads over recent months has reflected resumed weakness in Canterbury. This

follows a period into the middle of '19 when its figures appeared to be finding

their feet, having fallen a lot since '18. Wellington & Bay of Plenty retained

slightly -ve trends while Auckland was closer to stable. Many of the smaller

regions managed to see moderately positive trends into the close of '19. By

industry, Construction was clearly trending lower again in '19. In addition,

Banking & Financial Services and Science & Technology were receding. On the

other side of the coin, job ads for positions in ICT ended '19 with something of

a spike higher. An overall sense of caution was reflected in the fact ads for

full-time positions weakened over the final months of '19 (notably so in

seasonally adjusted form). Part-time numbers, on the other hand, strengthened."