Employers check productivity levels

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Tuesday 11th September 2001

There's a prediction the number of advertised jobs will begin trending downwards before the end of the year as firms seek to be more productive.

Latest figures show the number of job ads counted in the major newspapers throughout New Zealand eased 2.4% in August, following an all-time high the previous month.

The number of ads remains historically higher, with the national series 4.3% ahead of the same time last year.

Deutsche Bank senior economist, Darren Gibbs, says the level of advertising seems broadly consistent with the bank's forecast of 0.5% quarter-on-quarter employment growth in the third quarter, which would take the annual growth rate to 2.4%.

Mr Gibbs says although it is far too soon to be confident that job advertising has peaked, the bank is expecting a modest downtrend in job advertising levels before year-end as firms seek to raise labour productivity, which has declined over the past year on an economy-wide basis.

The ANZ job series shows that job ads overall fell 1.9% for the three main urban areas, with Auckland job ads dropping 3.2% and Christchurch numbers down 1.9%. Wellington job ads rallied, increasing 1.3%.

ANZ senior economist, David Drage, says the growth in the series so far this year has partly reflected a tightening labour market, with employers in some regions reporting difficulty in finding workers.

"Even if some parts of the economy show more moderate growth trends over the coming months, the labour market is likely to remain relatively tight, supporting job ad numbers."

"While commodity prices, as reflected in the ANZ Commodity Price Index, have begun to ease, and the outlook for some parts of the export sector has softened in recent months, the export sector in general is probably continuing to have a favourable impact on the labour market."

Mr Drage says increased activity in the domestic economy may create a new source of momentum to support the labour market as export activity tapers off and may lead to some slowing in job ad growth in the provinces in favour of the main centres.

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