Workers in Otago are feeling more optimistic about their futures but in Southland there is an increasing amount of negativity aligned to the falling prices in the dairy sector.
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index showed Otago moving up 1.3 points in confidence to 104.7 in the three months ended March from 103.4 in December.
In Southland, confidence fell 2.7 points from 101.4 to 98.7.
New Zealand employment confidence rose 3.3 points to 104.8 in March, the present conditions index rose 5.5 to 99.7 and the expectations index rose 1.8 to 108.4
‘‘Workers have started 2016 with a spring in their step,'' Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said yesterday.
‘‘They have become increasingly optimistic about current labour market conditions and, to a lesser extent, employment prospects for the year ahead.''
The index remained below levels reached in 2014 but sentiment had improved during the past six months.
Workers had become more positive about their recent earnings growth although they were not quite as convinced about the outlook for earnings over the year ahead.
The expected earnings growth index was slightly above the low it reached in September last year, he said.
Firms were reporting it had become more difficult to find skilled and unskilled labour, job adverts had picked up and Statistics New Zealand's new experimental job indicator series - which used tax data - showed a steady increase in job numbers.
‘‘For now, demand for workers is at least keeping pace with rapid population growth, if not managing to outpace it.''
Despite reporting a general improvement in labour market conditions, workers were still cautious about their own future job security, Mr Stephens said.
One factor which might be keeping optimism in check were the challenges facing the dairy sector.
Splitting the results by region, developments were more mixed.
Eight out of 11 regions had an improvement in employment confidence.
Those included dairy heartlands such as the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, although Waikato was still below the 100-point mark, which separates optimism and pessimism.
Confidence fell in Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui, along with Southland because of the large dairy component.
While much of the lift in employment in the rest of the country was due to an improvement in current conditions, in Canterbury the improvement was mostly down to a lift in expected conditions, Mr Stephens said.
‘‘Workers in the region have become decidedly more optimistic about future earnings prospects.''
The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index summarised responses to five questions from 1154 households. The survey took place between March 1 and 11.
Employment confidence index movements
Northland: Dec'15: 98.6; Mar'16: 103.1; Change: 4.5
Auckland: Dec'15: 105.9; Mar'16: 110; Change: 4.1
Waikato: Dec'15: 93.7; Mar'16: 95.5; Change: 1.8
Bay of Plenty: Dec'15: 96.6; Mar'16: 104.9; Change: 8.3
Gisborne/Hawkes Bay: Dec'15: 97.9; Mar'16: 111.4; Change: 13.5
Taranaki/Manawatu-Wanganui: Dec'15: 101.8; Mar'16: 93.3; Change: -8.5
Wellington: Dec'15: 97.0; Mar'16: 99.3; Change: 2.3
Nelson/Marlborough/Westland: Dec'15: 101.5; Mar'16: 101.2; Change: -0.4
Canterbury: Dec'15: 103.7; Mar'16: 110.6; Change: 6.9
Otago: Dec'15: 103.4; Mar'16: 104.7; Change: 1.3
Southland: Dec'15: 101.4; Mar'16: 98.7; Change: -2.7
