The ANZ Job Ads index, released yesterday, showed total job advertisements rose 2.9% in November, 18% higher than a year ago.
ANZ senior economist Sharon Zollner said it was the strongest monthly growth in nearly two years and was all the more impressive because it was off a high base.
"Job ads have risen every month since September last year."
Auckland was the strongest of the three main centres, with job ads 18% higher than a year ago.
However, the largest cities were being outpaced by the regions, she said.
More than half of the less-urbanised regions were recording annual job ad growth of greater than 30%. Gisborne charged to the top spot with ads up 46% on year ago, pipping the Bay of Plenty on 42.6%. Taranaki and Southland were up "just" 13%, Ms Zollner said.
Otago-Southland Employers Association chief executive Virginia Nicholls was pleased with the rate of growth for Otago which put it fifth on the table. Otago was 30.6% higher than a year ago for job advertisement growth.
"We are the strongest-performing region in the South Island, and are the fifth-fastest growing region in New Zealand.
"It is pleasing to see Southland has increased by 13%, which is very positive when we consider the challenges the farming sector is facing."
Last week, the Southland Regional Development Strategy was launched and the business community was standing firmly behind it to increase Southland’s population by 10,000 by 2025 — which was achievable, she said.
Tourism would be pivotal and was helped by the increased tourist attractions in Invercargill. Employers across Otago had increased the number of employees this year, but were struggling to recruit for skilled positions, Mrs Nicholls said. Employers were looking at lifting the skills of staff they had, and were considering more apprenticeships. Businesses were also asking for continued access to skilled migrants for the jobs New Zealanders were not available for, she said.
"Businesses are finding it challenging to attract skilled staff across the region in a range of sectors including construction, tourism, some areas in health and manufacturing, and the related service industries."
Ms Zollner said the construction, utilities, manufacturing and transport sector was experiencing the largest growth in job ads followed by retail/tourism.
The lowest growth on the ANZ index was Canterbury on 1.6%The New Zealand economy was growing strongly and firms clearly had the confidence to hire around the country, she said.
The supply of workers had increased rapidly, courtesy of both strong net migration and strong labour force participation. However, labour shortages clearly existed.
