The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence June Index showed New Zealand workers becoming more upbeat about the state of the labour market.
But in Otago, confidence fell from 109.8 in March to 103.6 in June; in Southland confidence dropped from 111.3 to 110.3; and in Canterbury it was down from 118 to 113.9.
Overall, New Zealand confidence rose to 113.4 in March from 109.9 in June.
Mrs Nicholls said Otago and Southland had a small decline in employment confidence over the last quarter but even so, optimism in the region was still strong, similar to the rest of the country.
"It is encouraging that employment confidence is getting back towards where it was before the global financial crisis. And it is good to see increased job availability in the South Island generally."
Better dairy returns and good tourism and construction levels had been positive for our region over the last quarter, she said.
Employers were continuing to report skill shortages across the region. Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said local recruitment companies were seeing strong demand across the board.
Movement within the city from people seeking change was strong. Many were looking at other opportunities because of lower expectations of wage growth in the coming year.
"Some people are seeing the only way to get the pay rise is to move. This can come at an extraordinary cost in both loss of knowledge, time and business disruption."
Inquiries were also increasing from people outside Dunedin who were looking at possible opportunities within the city and seeing what its job market was like, he said.
Demand was particularly strong in marketing, surveying, engineering and project management throughout the city and region.
There was also increased demand for health and safety representatives, due to the recent changes in legislation.
Businesses were aligning themselves with the new requirements and wanted to ensure they were creating healthy and safe working environments, Mr McGowan said.
Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said June’s increase in employment was concentrated in the North Island, larger gains being seen in areas such as the Waikato, now the most optimistic region in the country, and the Bay of Plenty.
Some of the increased confidence would reflect improved conditions in export industries, including dairy.
Also, many regions in the North Island were seeing growing demand in the labour-intensive construction sector, as well as strengthening conditions in service sectors generally. Such gains had not been limited to Auckland, he said.
Workers in the South Island were also reporting increased job availability, but the improvement had been more moderate. Those in the South Island were less optimistic about job security in the coming year.
Mr Ranchhod said it was important to put the South Island figures in context.
June’s softening in confidence in Canterbury and Otago followed solid gains in the past year and still left employment confidence at firm levels.
"Looking at economic conditions more generally, things are looking good for economic growth and employment in southern regions.
"As well as improved agricultural earnings, many regions are seeing continuing house price gains. The strong tourist season is also boosting demand," he said.
At a glance
• Employment confidence down, but still firm in region
• Employers continuing to report skill shortages
• Desire for changing jobs is high in Dunedin
• Economic growth prospects bright in South
